Wendy Bisaro

The last item on this particular page talks about funds we expend on behalf of Nunavut. In the Revenue Summary there’s an item, Exchange of Services, for $2.686 million. This particular item in terms of expenses is $3.210 million. I wonder if I could get an explanation as to whether or not we are not receiving as much revenue as we spend, and if not, why not?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister Responsible for the Housing Corporation.

Why is the lodge not currently operational?

Can it be refurbished to be operational?

What costs are incurred annually by the GNWT for the upkeep and operation of the building?

What are the total annual costs for this building?

Since the closure of the facility in 2003 and up to today’s date, what is the total dollar amount spent by the GNWT for this facility?

What are the future plans for this facility?

Sorry, Mr. Chair. I thought we were going to 7-42. I have a question relative to numbers on page 7-42.

I don’t know if that’s worse for Mr. Bromley or worse for me.

Laughter.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. At the risk of being repetitive, I want to state again that it has been stated that there hasn’t been a full uptake on these programming funds for Community Justice. And at the risk of being repetitive, I want to state that without a coordinator, it’s quite understandable that the funds haven’t been taken up.

A coordinator will allow communities to have some leadership, to give them some guidelines to follow. And to reiterate what's been said by the two previous speakers, we need to start dealing with justice issues at a community level as opposed to a territorial and on a...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’d like to make a motion. I move that this committee defer further consideration of the Department Summary for the Department of Justice, Infrastructure Acquisition Plan, at this time.

Thank you. Just to wrap up before we go to the question, I appreciate the Minister’s response. But I feel very strongly that giving money to a community without any resource for them to assist them in properly applying that money is pretty much throwing good money after bad.

I think that this coordinator is necessary to assist communities that currently don’t have Community Justice committees — to get them established and to also assist those that do have those committees to be more efficient and to operate better.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’d like to speak to the rationale for the deletion of this particular activity. The Social Programs Committee discussed Community Justice and Corrections and facilities at great length during the department presentation, and afterwards when we discussed how we had viewed that presentation. At this point the program committee feels very strongly that this is not the correct time to begin planning a new facility. We don’t know yet whether or not the Arctic Tern facility in Inuvik is suitable for a secure facility for corrections. It’s undergoing a review — an engineering...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’d like to make a motion.

I move that this committee strongly recommends that the government take immediate action to reinstate funding in the amount of $83,000 for the proposed elimination of the program/projects coordinator position under the Department of Justice under the Community Justice and Corrections activity.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’d like to make a motion.