Robert Villeneuve

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have to concur with the other Members that on the short time that we’ve been allowed to review and respond to these taxation changes and I can appreciate the public’s concerns with the changes as far as the Chamber of Commerce and the Construction Association are concerned.

Just to comment on some of the newer Members’ concerns about the business plan review and such. I have to give some consideration to the government’s staff that has probably reviewed a lot of the options that are being brought forward today in this committee with the concerns about lowering the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to realize what the Member was eluding to that many people in the NWT live in trailer units, Mr. Speaker, I am well aware of that. But a lot of these trailer units are older units and they are put together by very big nails. The newer units are usually a little more cost effective and, therefore, they are put together with three-quarter inch staples. I wanted to ask the Minister about the affordable housing crisis that he is addressing, and the communities that these affordable housing units will be accommodating to probably professionals that have full-time...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to ask the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation about the issue of the housing units that will be going into Deninu Kue and these other communities in the NWT. On the question of affordable housing versus maximum benefits in relation to this whole tendering process and the BIP and what not, my question really has nothing to do with the business incentive policy, although the community does welcome the opportunity to have a little bit of employment in that market and in getting site preparation and that stuff done for these units....

Sure. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Like I said, it's just some cautionary measure that we should consider before looking at any more tax increases such as this.

But regrettably, like I said, I will be supporting the bill because I don't think it's a whole lot of dollars we're talking about. That's all I have to say. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have a question on this new initiative. I guess I concur with the Finance Minister that the half a percentage point increase of a person grossing more than $80,000 a year is not really a big chunk of money that we're talking about. Out of $80,000 wages, $7.50 is not a heck of a lot of money, but I think it's just the principle that people tend to look at more than what are the actual dollar amounts that they'll be paying out.

I just wanted to ask the Minister of the 4,600 taxpayers in the NWT that are going to be affected by these...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have to concur with the honourable Member to the point that there is definite need in the community. Just to get back to the accommodations set up in the community, I know that there are a lot of professionals that are all living in one unit. That is probably due to the fact that they are probably in a social housing unit, and with the rent scale they have in place one person in each unit can never afford the amount of rent. I wanted to ask the honourable Minister that when these professionals start moving out of the social housing units that were for social...

I am wondering what measures and contract obligations that these southern firms would have to ensure that these units will last at least two to five years, and that this portable housing will not have to be replaced by some more affordable housing in the short term. Mr. Speaker, thank you.

---Applause

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am going to raise the important issue relevant to seniors and the contributions they make to our society. I met with the Seniors’ Society last week here in Yellowknife and also another elders’ committee from Lutselk’e yesterday.

Although these meetings were bound together under different circumstances, the underlying points raised during these discussions were very similar: issues pertaining to health services, acute and outpatient care, and community health representation, just to name a few, and many other issues related to housing and seniors’ and elders’...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have one more issue with the education and culture. I just wanted to touch on a subject that I’m sure we’ve all had questions about and we’re all familiar with. That has to do with sex education in our school systems. Just noting that, I know that people and students that are well educated in sex, and the outcome of irresponsible sexual behaviour would make more informed decisions with respect to the actions they take and some informed decisions in modifying their sexual practices. It would help alleviate a lot of problems we have with combating STDs and other...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That sounds okay to me. It sounds like the Minister is willing to keep it under consideration for further discussion.

Just getting back to some of the increase in some program funding, the increase in the student financial assistance and the income support program, I am curious as to the levels of increase that these programs are going to be receiving. What percentage of those increases are actually going to be going to the students and what percentage is going to just administration of the program delivery?