Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With respect to the construction of these units, as I said before, our northern local contractors need work, our residents need work, and our northern suppliers need work. Will the Minister of Housing assure us that these units will be built in the North by northern contractors with northern employees and not be supplied by southern contractors? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is no secret that there exists a long waiting list with individuals and families waiting to access public housing. How, then, do you explain demolishing existing stock and using the land for units that are not for public-housing use? It will be lands that are lost for this use.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very pleased that the RCMP will have 45 new housing units available to them within the next year. The service the RCMP members provide is invaluable to communities and the residents they serve here in the Northwest Territories, and as such, I am pleased with the initiative.

Mr. Speaker, the NWT Housing Corporation is set to supply the RCMP with these new housing units throughout the NWT. These units will go primarily into market communities where there are established real estate developers. Some of these developers have expressed concerns as to why the NWT Housing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Another area is the red tape. I think that contractors find that the amount of paper that is required to be filled out for payments, and for other areas, as well, is starting to increase to the point where they actually have to hire somebody to manage that. Yet, there is no opportunity to recoup that.

I would ask the Minister if her departments are looking at the paperwork and requirements they put out to contractors and whether there is something that they can do to reduce that amount of paper requirement. Thank you.

I thank the Minister for that answer. The second question is with respect to the BIP policies. What will your department, ITI, do to ensure that our current BIP policies are doing what they are designed to do, with respect to the application of them, fairness, and monitoring, to ensure that our northern businesses and residents are really benefitting from them?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What is important to me at this moment in time is the homeless situation for men in Hay River. We have a number of people living on the streets in this cold weather. With all the resources we have at our disposal, we allow it to happen. Why? Because these very people who we know, who we grew up with, and who are our friends do not routinely contact us as they are just trying to stay warm and stay alive. In this situation, we have to be proactive and take the first step in making contact and identifying immediate solutions before somebody freezes to death.

Mr. Speaker...

The next question has to do with payment to contractors. We find that, in talking with a number of contractors, they have been waiting for payment for up to five, six, seven, eight, nine months. What I would like to ask the Minister is: what will your department do to ensure that our northern businesses are paid in a timely manner for work done? Just so that we can avoid financial hardship and that we're putting them under.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The questions I have today are for the Minister of ITI and Infrastructure. Yesterday, I made a statement on the economy. The reality is that, outside YK, the government is the economy. My first question to the Minister is: what is your department's plan to put our northern businesses and residents to work as soon as possible? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The other and, I guess, last question that I have for the Premier is that we have been here now for roughly five months, I guess, since the writ was dropped. In my community in Hay River and, I guess, in the regions, contractors are looking for work and people are looking for jobs. What is this government's plan, immediately, I guess, to start looking at putting people to work and ensuring that contracts are put out there?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to speak about the stagnant economic condition in the NWT and, more specifically, the regions outside Yellowknife.

In these uncertain economic times, we must understand that the majority of current business opportunities for the regions are tied directly to government projects. Keeping this in mind, it is important that we, as government, ensure that our northern businesses and residents have first opportunity to participate in any and all government-funded projects. It is important that these projects are not delayed, in order that we can put northern...