Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In July 2009 the Northern Leaders’ Forum was created as a means for all leaders in the NWT to work collectively to advance the interest of our territory and its residents.
We set ourselves a task of developing a common vision and road map for the future of the NWT with input from northern residents, industry, NGOs, and youth. We accomplished what we set out to do, concluding the initiative with the release and tabling of the report in May entitled “Forging the Future - Anchored in our Past, Building on our Present.”
One of the most rewarding experiences throughout this process was the engagement of people from various walks of life, especially our youth. It was inspiring to hear about their hopes and dreams, their commitment to this place we call home, and their willingness to participate as citizens to make things better in all our communities.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to advise that I recently had the pleasure and privilege of hosting, along with Minister Robert C. McLeod, the Forging the Future Youth Conference here in Yellowknife.
In total, 42 youth delegates from all regions and backgrounds came together in Yellowknife on July 7th and 8th. Their task was very specific and intended to build on progress made so far, which had been captured in the previously tabled Northern Leaders’ Forum report. Guided by the vision statement and the youth wish list contained in that report, youth were asked to develop two priorities in support of the overall vision.
I am proud to say that the attending youth were very focussed and targeted in their efforts. They worked cooperatively and diligently over the course of the two days. They talked openly about their
hopes for our people, our territory and our future, and agreed on two specific recommendations.
Their first recommendation stresses the need for people to be healthy and addiction free, a prerequisite for unlocking a bright future and taking advantage of all the opportunities that are available.
Attending youth were troubled by the high rates of addiction and the perceived lack of treatment facilities in all regions. The recommendation speaks to the need to conduct consultations for regional treatment centres to hear how best to put in place treatment centres with culturally sensitive and multicultural staff. This would lead to the development of unique treatment and recovery support plans for youth, adults, and elders.
Their second recommendation speaks to the importance of youth assigned to school counsellors, and mentors providing support and assistance to students throughout high school. The recommendation is to place a qualified youth counsellor/mentor in every school who would be well versed in cultural traditions as well as modern education and would focus on supporting student/teacher partnerships.
In addition to providing these recommendations, youth delegates also discussed the importance of enhanced youth participation in political discussions and decision-making. Delegates provided insightful and concrete suggestions, including their key proposal for the creation of a territorial youth council that is run by youth for youth communicating regularly with leaders of the government.
Mr. Speaker, in order to realize the vision and goals contained in Forging the Future, we must translate ideals into action. This task rests with each and every one of us - leaders, government workers, business people, community volunteers, parents and youth. We must all be part of the solution.
Mr. Speaker, later today I will be tabling the summary of the Forging the Future Youth Conference which will provide more information about the discussions that took place at the conference, and I would encourage all Members, present and future, to read the report and listen to what youth have said about the Northwest Territories and their expectations of what should happen in order to reach our full potential as a people and territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to speak about the importance of community training and preparedness.
In June the town of Fort Smith was threatened by extreme fire conditions which resulted in heavy smoke and considerable risk to the community. Several residents were evacuated until the risk passed. In July forest fires located close to the charter community of Deline resulted in the evacuation of 108 residents. Both events required emergency management officials to implement measures designed to protect the safety of residents and prepare for the worst.
Thankfully these events did not result in widespread damage, but they do offer a good reminder of how a disaster can strike at any time. In the Northwest Territories, forest fires and floods occur regularly and can easily test the community’s ability to respond.
Several months ago community emergency management officials from Deline and Fort Smith participated in training on basic concepts of emergency management. This training provides the skills to effectively prepare for and respond to all types of emergencies. Understanding the framework of emergency management, along with accepted common response protocols in use across the Northwest Territories, greatly increases the timeline and effectiveness of response to an emergency.
This training was put into practice in June and July with a high degree of efficiency and effectiveness by community emergency management officials in Deline and Fort Smith.
There is a wide variety of situations and factors that can cause a disaster in a community. Communities in the Northwest Territories may be particularly vulnerable due to the potential impacts of climate change. In coastal communities, preparation for storms and flooding may be more necessary, while in southern regions the frequency of forest fires may increase.
Municipal and Community Affairs is working with communities and partners to guide the development and delivery of quality of training opportunities to improve the safety of residents and to respond to disaster in an appropriate and effective manner. This includes efforts to improve community capacity to undertake emergency management activities and to support communities in their emergency planning efforts.
With the recent fire events in Deline and Fort Smith we are reminded of how important it is for all communities to be prepared to respond to emergencies. MACA remains committed to working to advance the 16th Legislative Assembly’s goal of sustainable, vibrant, and safe communities in the NWT.
I invite my colleagues to join me in congratulating the communities of Deline and Fort Smith for their effort in preparing for disaster and working together to protect the safety of their residents.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. One of the ways that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has worked towards this Assembly’s goal of healthy, educated people is through the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. Regional Aboriginal student achievement forums were an important part of this, with a final forum in May 2011. All the forums had excellent attendance and participation from the youth, elders, Aboriginal leaders, education authorities, and community leaders.
Subsequently, a meeting was held with Aboriginal government leaders, education authorities, and Aurora College to discuss the outcome of the regional forums. All leaders agreed on the four priority areas the Aboriginal Student Achievement Working Group identified as priorities that would improve educational outcomes for Aboriginal students.
For each priority all leaders agreed on specific goals. For early childhood and childcare, leaders agreed to develop early childhood programs, services, and initiatives to optimize Aboriginal children’s health and development. For literacy, leaders have set goals to eliminate the literacy gap between Aboriginal and other students. In the area of student and family support the goal is to provide some support services for Aboriginal students and families to help ensure academic success. Finally, the Aboriginal language and culture and resource development, leaders identified support for Aboriginal students to reach their fullest potential to become proficient in language and strong in their culture.
District education authority chairpersons and Aboriginal leaders expressed interest in annual meetings to further discuss the Northwest Territories education system and receive updates on the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. All groups agreed to meet annually and proposed signing an education partnership declaration. This demonstrates a shared commitment to work together in a collaborative manner to improve the academic success of Aboriginal students.
On July 20, 2011, all parties signed the historical Education Partnership Declaration resulting in a completed Aboriginal Student Achievement Education Plan, which I will table later today.
This is an exciting time of year with students getting ready to start a new school year in the next several weeks when they will have the opportunity to learn important skills they need for their future. It also provides a fresh start for those who stopped attending school in the past.
As leaders and parents, we must encourage all students to attend school daily, to work hard, to do their best.
This education plan is for our youth. Northern children are our future and they deserve to have the best quality, culturally relevant education system available to them. Through our work, all parties agreed it will take the combined efforts of many departments, youth, Aboriginal governments, education authorities, and community leaders to implement the education plan. Everyone has an important role to play.
Although there has been a significant increase in NWT high school graduates over the past few years, we still have much to do. We must ensure our graduates are well prepared to pursue their educational and career goals and to be active, responsible citizens who contribute to the economic and social well-being of our communities and our territory. The education plan and the education partnership declaration provide us the best opportunity for this.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all heard from the Member for Nunakput the concern with housing and people being evicted and also the amount of arrears that we have compiled over the last number of years.
Mr. Speaker, in previous governments there were two communities that seemed to have had a problem with arrears and all the other LHOs did not have the arrears that we’re seeing today. Yet, Mr. Speaker, some unique efforts were made from different communities, and I’ll use the community of Tsiigehtchic in my riding. They worked with the tenants to work off their arrears by demolishing old Housing Corporation units, which were going to have to be demolished anyhow, and allowed the individuals to work off their arrears in which they have their wage earnings go towards their arrears; the other half they got to keep.
It’s these unique types of arrangements that I think the Minister should consider in light of the situation in Paulatuk and also in other communities that you have arrears where we do have a lot of infrastructure that is basically ready to be demolished. Again, that’s one of the ways that you can assist communities dealing with the arrears.
Mr. Speaker, it’s also important that we ensure that the people we put into our care programs get into homeownership, that we work with them to ensure that they’re able to transition as a Housing Corporation tenant to a homeowner, but not to treat them as if they’re still a tenant in the Housing Corporation unit by using the 25 percent income in which the individuals are discouraged from basically trying to bring in revenues.
I’ll use the situation I have in Fort McPherson where the individual’s wife went and got a job at the school as a teacher’s assistant, and because of the amount of rent and basically the amount that they were supposed to pay on the unit was almost $2,500. If they went to the bank and got a mortgage, they would have paid somewhere in the region of maybe $500 to $1,000 a year on a mortgage. So it’s discouraging for people to try to get into housing and being treated the same way they were as tenants in the Housing Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will be having questions for the Minister of Housing on trying to find solutions to arrear problems and evictions. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A key priority of my mandate has been promotion of early childhood development because of its critical role in growing our next healthy generation. Key connections exist with the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative. As I noted last session, with the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative moving to completion before the early childhood development review is done, there is potential for a fundamental error in planning. We can’t set an informed course for student achievement until we’ve considered development of young children before they enter the school system.
What is early childhood development? Providing the nurturing, securing and stimulating experiences during the first years of a child’s life that help the child’s brain develop and lay the foundation for lifelong learning. In essence, the experiences that children have before they can even speak affect lifelong learning and behaviour.
Consider this astounding and emerging new knowledge: Studies show that our brain development peaks in the first year of life. Language development peaks between six and nine months and begins with development of brain circuitry in the three months before birth.
The greatest opportunity to foster Aboriginal languages starts before birth and goes to age one. Powers of perception and thinking, physical, emotional and mental health, above all, learning, all these capacities are most powerfully and largely developed from prenatal to the third year of life. If we focus on efforts on institutional learning without the early childhood support, we’ve missed the period of life when efforts -- that’s expenditures -- bring the greatest results.
What about the costs? Talk about good investment. In Canada the annual cost of dealing with crime, violence, and problems in mental health and addictions is about $220 billion. That’s direct cost and lost economic potential. The cost of preventing this? About $18 billion. In terms of return on expenditures, support for programs aimed at the first three years of life gives them eight times greater return and increased capacity compared to dollars spent at age 16. Focus on prevention, save on cost.
The Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative is going ahead, with much good work done. In handing this over to the next Assembly, I’m asking the Minister to ensure that resources are earmarked to efficiently achieve the huge potential we now...
Mr. Bromley, your time for your Member’s statement is expired.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
The Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative is going ahead, with much good work done. In handing this work over to the next Assembly, I’m asking the Minister to ensure that resources are earmarked to efficiently achieve the huge potential we now realize we can achieve through early childhood development with much less cost than the greater and too-late cost during schooling. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Wednesday my colleague Mr. Bromley raised a number of questions on the Giant Mine remediation project. He stressed the need for independent oversight, ongoing research and reporting arising out of the concerns about the flooding last spring, and the sinkholes that have appeared on the property over this past summer.
One area that he did not mention is the requirement to realign the Ingraham Trail through the mine site to ensure the traffic does not pass directly over the different arsenic chambers.
Over two years ago the Giant Mine realignment was announced as a necessity for safety reasons. Three options were identified at the time.
Option one, which is the least technical and completely bypasses all the arsenic pits, starts near Fred Henne Park and rejoins the Ingraham just past the mine site just before the Yellowknife River.
Option two is the option that closely mirrors the existing highway through the Giant Mine site but is altered to avoid the different arsenic chambers. It would create a very erratic and winding road through the existing site.
Option three, which has already been rejected as unsuitable, was along the lakefront in front of the Giant town property, the old Giant town site, and rejoins the Ingraham Trail past the ‘A’ headframe. I understand that this route would actually go over one of the arsenic chambers, so its construction would have made the purpose of the realignment completely moot.
Since these options have been identified, there has been little information made public. I have had a number of constituents ask me what are the plans for the realignment and when will they see something done.
Mr. Speaker, last session some of my colleagues asked these types of questions, but the answers seemed to have confused many in the public. So today, at the appropriate time, I will once again be asking questions related to this topic of the Minister of Transportation. Specifically I want to know if a route has actually been selected, and if so, which route will be developed. Will northern contractors employing northern workers be involved in the construction? What is the timeline? What is the cost, and who will be responsible for paying it?
Mr. Speaker, every winter a large number of heavy loads pass over these arsenic chambers, hauling critical supplies to the diamond mines. The Giant Mine site is undergoing odd transformation with the appearance of these new sinkholes. Overflow from Baker Creek is a reality. It may be again.
On top of this, the original notification of this project stressed that the realignment was a safety issue, so why the delays? When will this project get done? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to recognize the courage and compassion of Pearl Norwegian, her sister Carol Norwegian, brother Joey Klein, niece Shanta Ansdell, and nephew Mark Ansdell for walking from Inuvik to Tsiigehtchic to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society.
---Applause
Earlier this month, Pearl and her family walked 125 kilometres between Inuvik and Tsiigehtchic. Pearl’s mother, Therese Remy Sawyer, also known as Terry Norwegian, died of cancer last year but not before she, herself, had completed the walk in 2006. Pictures of the walk show her smiling the whole time. She did it in memory of her husband, Tom Sawyer, who died of cancer in 2001.
One hundred and twenty-five kilometres is a long journey, but as Pearl told me, Mr. Speaker, the pain endured is nothing compared to those who suffered and are suffering from cancer. They camped along the way at the Gwich’in Territorial Park, Caribou Creek, and Wrangling River. They used the time together to bond, share memories, and recall the lessons and traditions their mother and grandmother passed on to them.
The family has vowed to walk between Inuvik and Tsiigehtchic again every five years, with the repeat beginning in 2016. The family not only wants to raise money for cancer research but increase awareness of cancer and the importance of early screening and checkups.
They want to continue their mother’s legacy and all they can do to prevent other families from experiencing the loss of a loved one to cancer. The walk ended in Tsiigehtchic at the graves of their mother, Terry; their sister, Esther; and stepfather, Tom.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who supported the walk and congratulations to Pearl, Carol, Joey, Shanta and Mark.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, Pearl Norwegian also served as my constituency assistant and I would like to thank her very much for her work and dedication through this term. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’m going to tell the story of a 31-year-old woman who saw the doors of opportunity open for her, only to see this government try to slam them shut. She’s struggling to get through them and realize her dream of getting a degree in nursing and then go on to medical school to become a doctor.
She began with the Nursing Access Program at Aurora College because she needed upgrading as a mature student. She is the mother of four children between the ages of six and 14 and she’s not rich, at least not financially. She’s a tenant in a Yellowknife Housing Authority unit. Luckily, she was eligible for SFA. Everything seemed to be working out. She’s a Northerner through and through, born and raised in Yellowknife, and a generous volunteer. She participates in the Foot Washing Program at the Salvation Army.
Busy as she is, she finished year one at the top of her class and she’s headed for a degree in nursing. When she graduates, she plans to serve here in the Northwest Territories. Her resolve and dedication to achieve her goal is really remarkable. I know everybody here would cheer her on if they could, Mr. Speaker, and I wish I didn’t have to tell you the other half of the story.
Last week the SFA caseworker called to warn her that her funding would run out after this year. Why, Mr. Speaker? Because she will hit the $60,000 cap on financial assistance. Even this year she is facing a smaller living allowance that has been cut from $1,550 a month down to $1,040. Please don’t forget she has four kids to feed, Mr. Speaker. In fact, it’s because she has four kids that her living allowance pushed her more quickly than most students towards that cap that we have on SFA assistance.
She has been told to seek out other funding. She has been told to get a summer job. Mr. Speaker, that summer job would certainly have to pay her well to cover her daycare and summer camp costs, let alone give her any money for school this fall.
Sometimes the programs we craft in government do not fit the realities of life, Mr. Speaker, and this is one such case. I know the SFA program is under review, but that won’t be done, Mr. Speaker, for at least another year, possibly 18 months.
In the meantime, are we going to slam the door on one of our best students? Are we going to tell this constituent of mine, too bad, we just can’t help you out anymore? Your hopes and dreams are just too big. I certainly hope not, Mr. Speaker. If we can’t help even the most determined, bright, promising young students, we are heading down a very dark path. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to talk about the adequacy of support and funding for the volunteer fire department in Hay River.
Mr. Speaker, the volunteer fire department has a very long history in the community of Hay River. It is a group of very dedicated and continually trained workers who are on call for the safety and protection of our community at all times.
A long-time firefighter, Chief Ross Potter, recently became a full-time employee of the Town of Hay River, so Hay River now has a paid full-time fire chief. Mr. Speaker, this is a very good service for the community and it allows Chief Potter to actually do the types of inspections that are required that would normally be carried out by the office of the fire marshal. So commercial buildings inspections and different things that need to take place, Chief Potter is able to perform those duties.
I will have questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs as to whether or not the Town of Hay River is receiving any remuneration or compensation for the fact that that role has been taken up to some extent by our fire chief.
The ambulance service that the volunteer fire department provides, too, is also a very valuable service. It’s not only for emergencies, it’s also for transporting patients from the hospital when they require to go out on medevacs. It’s also a service that goes outside of our town boundaries. It goes to the K’atlodeechee First Nation when required. It goes out onto the highways around Hay River and rescues and brings in people who are injured in accidents.
I believe that the amount of money that was provided to the volunteer fire department for this ambulance service historically had been around $25,000. I think that periodically we need to look at the volume of work that’s being done, the actual value of the work that’s being done, and review whether that amount of money is sufficient as a contribution.
Ultimately, if we want to keep a very good volunteer fire department and ambulance service available in Hay River, it costs money. There are inflationary factors. If the government does not review this and increase the funding, then it falls to the taxpayers of Hay River.
I’d like to thank the volunteer fire department and Chief Potter for the work they do in Hay River. Later today I will have questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs as to the financial support and the adequacy of that financial support for Hay River.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]
I talked many times during the 16th Assembly about the important issue of employment in the small communities in the NWT, specifically the low employment rates in the small communities. Although the GNWT has established the Small Community Employment Support Program Guidelines which came into effect April 1, 2011, to date I have not seen any marked improvement to the employment rates in Lutselk’e and Fort Resolution.
In my last Member’s statement on this issue, on May 13, 2011, I said that the three employment programs should be delivered at the community level as much as possible and some changes must be made to the program. I made reference to how the communities in my riding have half-time client service officer positions. They are GNWT positions. However, the career development officers is a plan in which this government has in delivering the Employment Support Program.
The communities in Tu Nedhe do not have a community development officer position. I believe that the client service officer positions can effectively fill the role of a career development officer position and create one job with both titles where that job would be able to deliver the program. This would be a new position in the GNWT, a combined position that would be located in the small communities. It would also give the small communities an opportunity to look at other positions that should be created in improving the employment rates in the small communities; positions such as preschool teachers, daycare workers, youth workers, and employment workers, just to mention a few, will definitely go a long way to solving the employment problems in the small communities.
I realize the Small Community Employment Support Guidelines have only been introduced since April 1, 2011, and will take time to sort itself out; however, I believe feedback such as this will enhance the program and make it more effective for small communities to hire people and keep people employed by the GNWT in small communities.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When someone works at one of the government customer service counters, they are providing an essential service as a front-line worker. At times, I’m sure, regardless of how hard they work and how hard they try, there are many days they think it’s probably a thankless job. I’m thankful and grateful that many of them keep coming back day after day and providing the essential services that we need so much. So when I come across a matter like I’m going to raise today, I want to raise it with both concern and respect for the job that our public service staff are certainly doing.
Over the years many of us have heard how the motor vehicle registry office is congested. I know the staffers are certainly doing the best that they can. I’ve been there even myself, sitting back and watching even the slightest conversation and hearing the tenseness and frustration that might be happening, but I’ve always watched and observed that the staff handle themselves very professionally. I certainly want to make sure that’s noted for the record and they’re given credit for that.
I thought personally, watching what the Department of Transportation did by putting a TV in the seating area was an excellent way to deal with possible frustration, and I thought that, watching most patrons there, they seemed to be preoccupied by watching cooking shows or fishing shows and they let the time go by unnoticed. The fact is, it still can’t change the reality that most people are unable to wait more than 15 minutes because of breaks that they’re getting away from the daily routine of their jobs or personal limitations. The suggestion was brought to me, why doesn’t the GNWT look at adding a couple of kiosks that people can self-serve themselves through the motor vehicle registration process. This could also include other types of renewals. This is done in other provinces, so why couldn’t it be done here?
Another suggestion, of course, was the motor vehicle registry hours are now, of course, as people are saying, better than bankers’ hours, officially. A person can look no further than across the street and see that the TD Bank is now open on Saturdays. The question would be why? The fact is, they know that not everybody can make 9:00 to 4:00 and they’re out there for customer service.
Another suggestion that came along in the same vein is what about moving to some of these things as on-line services? This has certainly been done in Ontario, where the government is trying to make their public services as accessible as possible.
Finally, good credit needs to go out to the City of Yellowknife who has rolled out many of their customer service-based priorities to the citizens on line, which makes it very convenient.
During question period I will raise many of these issues and ask the Minister of Transportation if there is a way they can look into these matters and address some of these concerns.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I stated the housing situation in the Northwest Territories is at the boiling point. Today I have to restate that again.
People in Nunakput are extremely anxious over the eviction notices. The way that evictions are being handled is unacceptable. The situation is out of control. When people in the communities are evicted, where are they supposed to live? What are the social consequences of these evictions? We know the answers: overcrowding, family violence, and homelessness. The e-mails, letters, and phone calls I’m getting on this issue are heartbreaking.
We have never seen harder times in the communities or greater disparity between families. Many parents feel hopelessness and I’m deeply worried about them. This government cannot take such drastic measures without taking impact on people into account. It’s extremely irresponsible. In Yellowknife and other major centres, families at least have somewhere to get help. In the remote communities, once you’re evicted, the family has nowhere to go.
The inequalities between the communities are also getting worse. Solving our homelessness problem is supposed to be a major priority of this government, but instead we are kicking people out of their homes because they can’t pay their arrears and have no means to because there’s no work.
I’ve spoken about these arrears many times. I’ve urged the Minister to get the staff to review each and every one of these situations to reallocate the arrears. Many people do not actually owe as much as the Housing Corporation claims. This has happened because the system, and reporting the income, and calculating rent are cumbersome and simply not working.
Families in Nunakput are struggling. The cost of living is way too high and jobs are scarce. We cannot continue to kick people out of their homes in this way. It’s not right. It’s a government responsibility to give a person a house, a roof over their head so they don’t have anything to worry about and provide for their families.
I will have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The NWT Housing Corporation is currently in the middle of a review of its Shelter Policy. I commend this House for recognizing the importance of this review, and for ensuring that adequate funds for a thorough review were approved in our 2011-2012 budget. This review is important, both to MLAs and to our constituents, and approving those funds has allowed for a comprehensive review, not just a scratch of the surface.
I had an opportunity to provide input to the review earlier this summer and I spent considerable time with the interviewer itemizing my concerns. Mine are only a few of the concerns that are out there. The list is almost endless. For the record, here are mine.
First, there has to be a valid continuum of housing from homelessness to homeownership. We have gaps in the continuum right now, specifically in the area of transition housing and for supported independent living housing for disabled citizens. What little transition housing we do have is provided by non-government organizations and they struggle with their financing. Government, whether it be the Housing Corporation or another department of this government, must provide consistent and adequate funding to transition housing service providers.
Second, we need to revamp how we charge rent for public housing. Our goal in the provision of housing should be to make residents self-sufficient and independent. The current policies and rent scales do not encourage that.
Thirdly, Yellowknife non-government operations provide emergency shelter services here in the city, but their funding varies widely. It seems to depend on the department providing the funding and the circumstances specific to the NGO. There needs to be consistent, equitable, and fair funding for our NGO service providers, no matter which department of the government it comes from.
Fourth, there’s a need for a cross-departmental, government-wide review of all policies that impact the provision of housing, the users of public housing, tenancy, and income support. We currently have policies in one part of the government which contravene or inhibit the application of policies in another part of our government, and our residents suffer as a result. We need to review and revise to make policies enabling, not disabling.
Lastly, a review of the Residential Tenancy Act is needed in three specific areas: the powers of the rental officer, the lack of authority for transitional housing, and consideration must be given to limiting the amount of any annual rent increase.
The election looms large and housing is a particularly...
Ms. Bisaro, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
The election looms large and housing is a particularly important issue for all of our constituents. I urge all NWT residents to take action during the campaign. When a candidate appears at your door, tell them of your housing concerns and ask them how they will deal with them if elected.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In extraordinary times we as the government need to do the extraordinary things to help our people in our communities. No matter how much we prepare for emergencies and training, there is nothing we can do for the unplanned events. However, we still continue to prepare.
The town of Norman Wells, which happens to sit on the largest oil discovery on our lands since the 1920s, had their gas line come close to being shut down, which meant our residents, all of the entire town, would have been completely cut off from their only source of energy. Basically lights out for the entire town.
This situation came close to reality because of two broken pipelines that just happened, and that’s another Member’s statement. This caused the Town of Norman Wells to declare a state of emergency. Now the real threat of having no gas at all, the town did an extraordinary thing: it brought in a machine to help out with the gas supplies. This was done because safety first for the people, safety for our elders, and basically their actions would seem reasonable, given the challenges before them. Very simple: you either have power or no power. We chose power to the people.
A lot of good, hardworking people are still working with us on a long-term solution to deal with the shortage of natural gas. Basically the Town of Norman Wells, the Norman Wells oilfield is running dry. Imperial Oil needs natural gas for their own operations and cannot afford to supply the town anymore.
Mr. Speaker, the town requested financial assistance from our federal government and the Government of the Northwest Territories. To date I don’t believe the feds have ever replied, and our government said no to the immediacy for financial assistance. They said they did not meet the criteria under the Extraordinary Funding Policy. The government said you’re the provider, you pay. Besides, because of the healthy fiscal position with the reserve funds from the natural gas or you can recoup…
Mr. Yakeleya, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.
