Tom Beaulieu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Although I think it’s essential that the staff go into the seniors’ homes, I don’t think it’s a difficult task. There is probably enough staff to be able to go into all the homes. Aside from that, whether the officers are going into the homes or not, will the Minister direct his staff to do all that is necessary to gather the documentation to ensure that the initial application is completed? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister direct the staff at the Housing Corporation to develop a strategy to ensure that all senior homeowners are contacted during the delivery stage? Thank you.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to talk about seniors also, senior homeowners specifically that are in need of programs to assist them to maintain their homes.

As it stands now, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation has programs that can provide what is needed for seniors. However, accessing the current programs is more difficult than it needs to be.

The NWT Housing Corporation has a CARE program that can provide both maintenance and repairs but the seniors are not a priority and if they can’t get themselves to the officers that are delivering the program, they are missed.

Ea...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Social Programs met on January 12, 2011, to review Bill 14, An Act to Amend the Conflict of Interest Act. The bill was supported by the NWT Association of Communities and the Town of Hay River. A representative of Yellowknife Metis organizations also took part in the public hearing. Committee members thank all involved for their constructive input.

Following a clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 14 to the Assembly as ready for Committee of the Whole. This concludes the committee’s general comments on Bill 14. Individual...

Mr. Speaker, prior to or during the program delivery stage, at the application stage, will the Minister direct his staff to go to the homes of the seniors and not wait for the seniors to make contact? There are only a limited number of senior homeowners in the communities. Will the Minister direct his staff to actually go to the homes or the staff to go to the homes? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about the homeownership programs, specifically homeownership programs for seniors needed to be developed by the Housing Corporation. I have some questions for the Minister of the Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister direct his staff to develop a seniors-specific program for repairs and maintenance of senior homeowner units? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to get back to my earlier questions about the cost and some of the responses that we are hearing from the Minister. This cost is too high; there is no question about it. This also assumes a 12-month fully functional committee, five fully functional committees from April 1st to March 31st, 2011-12, at this cost. We heard that, yes, it costs $45,000 to train a child protection worker to switch from a court system to working with a committee. Well, if that is the case, and that probably is the case, then we are training five of them at once in order to set...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister take a look at the preliminary possibilities in the infrastructure plan to construct a winter road in the next capital planning process? Thank you.

Will the Minister work with his department and the community to complete a feasibility study of a winter road to Lutselk’e?

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be talking on behalf of my community of Lutselk’e in regards to a service. [Translation ends]

I speak of a winter road. A winter road to Lutselk’e will provide a service to their citizens that are enjoyed by 29 of the 33 communities in the Northwest Territories. That enjoyment is the ability for those communities to access their communities with their personal vehicles.

Where possible, I feel that this government should provide a road that can be used by community members to lower the cost of living by buying goods in larger...