Rylund Johnson

Lastly, Mr. Speaker, I think there are some lessons to be learned here, and perhaps some lobbying to be done by our Housing Corp on the CMHC's processes. And I've even heard that the CMHC ministers complain about some of their processes not working for the North in the past. It's a lot of the reason that the coinvestment money sat there in the first place.

In the Spruce Bough's example, there doesn't currently seem to be a path forward where they can meet the CMHC building standards for green energy and retrofitting despite the fact that people are living there and it's working right now, this ...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corp regarding the Spruce Bough. There's been a number of different applications throughout this. I believe that the Housing Corp is committed to a part of the coinvestment fund and then the Spruce Bough was moved into the rapid rehousing money, and then they were not successful there. And now I believe they are back in the coinvestment fund with CMHC and the Housing Corp is still supporting their 25 percent of that. But can I just get an update from the Minister on where the Spruce Bough is at with...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I know there has been a couple of delays at getting the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre in Hay River operating, and I'm excited for its opening using the therapeutic model. And I know there's even some concerns about the perimeter fence, which I see it here, for $135,000 meeting the security requirements. But I guess my question is when do we expect that facility to be open?

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I guess that September 30th date is the date I'm worried about, is that it requires, you know, the staff to know whether they continue to have jobs and the residents to continue to know whether they have homes. Can the Minister speak to what needs to happen to extend funding beyond September 30th? I really would like to walk out of this pandemic with some longterm funding for those people in transitional housing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I recently saw the announcement that we got a contractor for the new fish plant in Hay River; I'm excited to see that. I've heard less about the remote fishery collection stations, and I see the million dollars is being carried over here. Can I just get an update on where those are at and when we can expect to see that work start? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does everyone have a right to housing, a right to a place to sleep at night, a roof over their read, and a secure place to store a few possessions with access to privacy? Well, Mr. Speaker, from the actions of this government, it's clear that they do not. Mr. Speaker, less than three percent of our capital budget was spent on housing this year. Mr. Speaker, and even our own processes don't guarantee a right to housing. Mr. Speaker, once again, the Spruce Bough, formally the Arnica, future's is uncertain.

Mr. Speaker, the Yellowknife Women's Society has been running, what...

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I feel that there is some public interest here in reiterating the facts here that Clark Builders sued us for $16 million on the Norman Wells health centre, and I believe that is public knowledge; there's a court case. And then we settled for what is now appeared to be $4.75 million. And a lot of the delays, my understanding, were on the GNWT and a number of change orders and disagreements with the contractor. And I believe the Office of the Fire Marshal also caused some number of those delays, which we are also in court with. I don't yet believe that has...

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I'm going to try and get one more commitment out of the Minister. We have spoken before about the GNWT online services program. I see phase two is in here. There are a number of great services. We are moving online and I know that has been delayed. Can we get a commitment out of the Minister to get an update on the GNWT online services program? Thank you.

Thank you. As I've stated many times, every other jurisdiction in Canada has a Building Code Act. The work that our fire marshal is conducting is not inherent to the offices of fire marshals. Fire marshals are for training firefighters, for providing fire safety. They are not always code compliance officers. That usually lies with building inspectors under building code acts and those acts appeal to an independent body. Nunavut's Building Code Act, for example, has an advisory council made up of experts who hear building code appeals. In NWT, those go to the Minister, Mr. Speaker. I don't...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Another issue is presently the Office of the Fire Marshal has taken the position that they will not review any documents unless they are released for construction or final drawings. And the problem with this, Mr. Speaker, is that everyone else and along the process is the contractors GNWT has hired, the procurement we've lined up, all of our capital budget has worked together to get final construction documents. And then those documents are sent to the fire marshal, and it becomes this black hole before any work can start. And, Mr. Speaker, architects are willing to...