Tom Beaulieu

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I'm at page 377. I have a question on the electrical power. I noticed that power first dropped by $1.6 million and then another drop now by $700,000. I'm wondering if that's because the Housing Corporation is moving to more user pay. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is certainly a big issue. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister if there is an actual budget put in place to address the homelessness identified in the report. I'm looking about a holistic type of approach here in trying to resolve the issue. What I'm hearing and what I know from my own history of just being a Northerner is that homelessness is not necessarily an inventory issue. I'd like to ask the Minister if they're doing things to try to get people into homes and homes that actually already exist. Thank you.

It appears in the report that talks about all of the reasons for homelessness and maybe addressing homelessness should be to resolve those issues, but it sounds like the Minister is telling me that they're putting things in place here that I'm not sure that it addresses the homelessness anywhere other than sobering up the people on the streets, maybe, if we're talking about the sobering centre.

I'd like to ask the Minister if there are homes being built in other communities to address homelessness on that report. When she mentions that there are homes being built in other communities, are those...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In order to do that, we must look at homelessness from a broader perspective, meaning we must address its root causes, which will require years of work, yet an effective response can go a long way to working to improve people's lives and eradicate homelessness. After all, if other jurisdictions in Canada, like Medicine Hat, for example, can achieve such an amazing accomplishment as eradicating homelessness, then why can't we? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Chair rise and report progress. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I was, I guess, just looking at the line and thinking that it was a bit underfunded. That was not so much specific to how much each pot can max out at, so that was my question. It appears as though it is fully utilized, but the corporation hasn't added to the budget in a couple of years, a couple of fiscal years. I guess it's just more of a question and I got the answer. It is fully utilized and I guess the corporation will do what they can with that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I wonder if the Minister could advise me if all communities in the NWT are eligible for the co-op 2 per cent write-down and a non-profit 2 per cent write-down? Sorry, Mr. Chairman, I apologize. I'm on page 383. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak about the cost of obesity to our people and to our healthcare system. According to Statistics Canada, the Northwest Territories has the highest obesity levels in the country, at 35.3 per cent.

Mr. Speaker, two of the four pillars of health are to eat healthy food and exercise. In small communities, it is costly to eat fresh vegetables and fruits on a regular basis. However, it is still possible to get healthy traditional food, like caribou, moose, fish, and small game, like wild chickens, ducks, and rabbits. In addition, many of...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, one of the, I think, important maybe objectives or goals of the government should be to try to reduce the rate of repeat offenders. I recognize that, in the past, from my hometown we have had quite a few correction officers, many of whom are retired at this point, working in the system. I found that they have lots of discussions with the individuals who are serving a sentence in corrections and trying to have those discussions so that those guys don't return.

I'm asking the Minister, I guess, other than just following the regular process, which is failing...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in this section, there are almost 250 employees. I was wondering if the department has an affirmative action plan to increase the number of priority one candidates in the public service in this particular section. Thank you, Mr. Chair.