Rylund Johnson
Statements in Debates
No, okay, sorry. I'm glad to hear that the assets are not transferring; we're just covering the insurance. I think this is a win all around, and thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In February of this year, to much celebration, Minister Green and Minister Chinna opened an Elders complex in Fort Good Hope. They went and cut the ribbon. And then, Mr. Speaker, we were even going to hire some people and then the complex never opened. The Office of the Fire Marshal would not give them their occupancy permit. That community then flooded, Mr. Speaker, and many people were evacuated and I'm sure they would have liked to have nine units to house people. But we never opened it. The GNWT said that they'd get it done by the end of summer, Mr. Speaker, and...
Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Northwest Territories Power Corporation and Northland Utilities with oversight, if necessary enforcement from the Public Utilities Board, improve communications with customers so that they are clearer, more comprehensive, more proactive, and more clientcentered, especially with respect to:
eligibility for the income assistance program and how policy changes or new benefit programs like the Canada Recovery Benefit may impact customer eligibility;
The terms and conditions of service documents regarding details on the types and minimum...
Thank you, Madam Chair. This is the first time seeing this. I take it that this means we well, first off, that school boards in Yellowknife used to get their insurance in through Alberta and there was an increase so there was a request that we insure them. I take it that this is what that money is doing. Can I just clarify that we are now paying insurance for the school boards' assets? Thank you.
Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Public Utilities Board work with the Northwest Territories Power Corporation and Northland Utilities to consider and study the implementation of a customer crisis fund modelled after BC's Hydro's Customer Crisis Fund to provide grant payments to residential customers experiencing a temporary financial crisis and who have fallen into arrears. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I see we're spending $2.7 million on early learning and child care. That's great, and then it's fully offset from the Government of Canada. That's even better.
Can I just get a bit of an explanation of what this fund is and especially in relation to, I see it runs to 2025, in relation to the upcoming childcare fund and agreement we could sign. I just want to understand how, if at all, they work together. Thank you.
Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation ensure that all its housing units have fit for habitation such that tenants are not forced to reserve resort to improvised methods to regulate the temperature of their homes. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I'll just ask one more question. Is all this work being done, is it just for phase 1 of the road, is it just the Lockhart Lake, or are we doing environmental assessment and wildlife studies for the potential of the whole project? I'm just trying to get a little more information on how we're approaching the permitting. Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Our report was previously read into the record so I don't have any substantive comments to add to the report; however, individual Members may have comments on the report and its recommendations. I'd just like to thank the committee for their commitment and hard work on this report.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I think we are all happy to see that both crime rates and incarceration have been going down in a rather predictable rate, which is why we have such low capacity in our prisons. But I guess at one point, I think we have to re-evaluate, you know, running a bunch of facilities with very low numbers, and even whether it's beneficial to inmates to have four, you know, members in a 23-person facility, whether it's better to have larger populations where there's a economy of scale for delivering programming programs. Is the department doing that work, to reevaluate...