Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s commitment once again. We need to move from an outdated energy system that is costing our people in every way, to one that promotes healthy land, people and economies. What steps will the Minister take to get all of this done during our term? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we intend to continue to build on work that was started in the 16th Assembly, where we undertook a number of pilot projects and a number of new initiatives. As part of the 17th Assembly, we will continue to work. We will be looking to identify resources through the business planning process. We will want to continue to increase our use of alternative and renewable sources of energy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I received several phone calls last night. I want to ask the Minister of Housing on the announcement of including elders on this rent scale. How many elders would be affected on this new announcement to have them start paying rent by July 1st?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have approximately just over 700 seniors right now that are currently paying zero. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, how many of these 700 seniors are in the Sahtu that there is going to be an impact by this announcement?
Mr. Speaker, I don’t have the numbers broken down as per region. However, I can gather that information and share it with the Member. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, first initial reaction for some of the constituents of mine were saying, what is happening? What is going on? Why are they charging rent now or planning to charge seniors this rent scale? What is the thinking behind these changes to the rent scale for the elders who are going to be paying rent if it all goes through on July 1st?
Mr. Speaker, this has been a discussion that has been going on for a number of years. Seniors have been very fortunate in the past where they have had to pay no rent. It is still costing the Housing Corporation an average $16,000 to $24,000 a year to maintain these units. The thinking behind it is during the engagement process there were a lot of seniors that had expressed a willingness and they don’t mind paying their fair share. There are some that were reluctant to phone for maintenance services because they don’t pay any rent. Some of this was brought on by the seniors themselves. The fact is that, with everything going on and declining funding and everything, it is just not sustainable anymore to be doing this. Our population is aging. We are looking at probably double or triple the amount of seniors by the time the federal funding expires. It is something that is just not sustainable anymore for the NWT Housing Corporation. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly what I have heard from the Sahtu elders certainly didn’t relay that message to me. Really it was the younger people who were working that want to make sure the rent scale was adjusted. Our elders in the Sahtu certainly didn’t convey that to me, and I don’t think that’s an accurate picture that the Minister is saying, that some of the seniors want to pay their rent. So, Mr. Speaker, I know the government may not agree with me, but I cannot sit here and agree with this principle of charging the elders rent coming in July. It’s just unacceptable, Mr. Speaker. I don’t know what to do about it, but why should I sit here and pretend that it’s okay to start charging or plan to charge our elders rent in my region when the cost of living is so high?
Thank you. I can understand the Member. He’s listening, obviously, to his constituents, and we didn’t expect this to be a very popular move, but it’s one that we felt needed to be made. There will be some adjustments.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
QUESTION 109-17(2):
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Last week I made great efforts to represent Fort Liard, the Nahendeh constituents, with Highway No. 7. I would like to continue and ask the Minister of Transportation about Highway No. 7 once again.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The condition of Highway No. 7 is important to the Government of the Northwest Territories and the folks who live in Nahendeh and the Deh Cho region. We certainly will be trying to set up a meeting with my counterpart, Minister Lebel. I will be in Ottawa from the 27th to the 29th, and I’m hoping to have the opportunity to sit down with Minister Lebel at that time. Thank you.
Thank you very much. It’s clear that our territorial government knows that they need to rebuild the road, but it’s got limited resources, as well as it’s clear, also, that Cabinet must address the northern transportation infrastructure and the financial gap that we have. Also, I’d like if the Minister would raise it with the federal Minister and also indicate that because of our low population density, it’s not a reason to defer projects and expenditures in our riding.
If we are going to grow our resources and our economy here in the Northwest Territories, an integral part of that is having a transportation system and infrastructure built here in the territory that is going to support the growth of our economy and lead us in that direction. We’ve been stressing this point to the federal government for a number of years and will continue to stress the importance of our transportation infrastructure to the federal government any chance we get. Thank you.
I’d like to ask the Minister what strategy he is developing, in that previous administrations have created documents, such as Connecting Canada and other documents. I’d like to know what the Minister’s strategy is when he’s meeting with the federal government, because the development of our northern roads, particularly Highway No. 7, is critical to the economic development of my region and the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
We are in the process of putting together another plan that will just lead again to stressing the importance of our transportation infrastructure here in the Northwest Territories and how we can avail ourselves of some substantial capital dollars to carry out the work that is required there. So I think the Member can look forward to us continuing to pursue that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Once again, the Prime Minister’s office is also aware of Highway No. 7. I had a resident of Fort Simpson advocating with the Prime Minister of Canada as well. So I’d like to ask our Minister and our government to do the same, to make it a highlight of the federal government and to press it in that light and give us at least one line in the federal budget with Highway No. 7. Thank you.
Again, I appreciate the Member’s passion for Highway No. 7 and the need to get those capital dollars that are required for the reconstruction of that highway. I will continue to work with the Member to see that that happens. Again, we are going to have to pursue capital dollars wherever we can find them. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Transportation in regard to his Minister’s statement that he made earlier today. It just goes to show that prevention, promotion and education works, and that he’s doing a great job with the Department of Transportation. It’s something that all departments should look into doing, to cut down on the costs in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s a great idea and that’s how ideas are born. I think we need to be looking to Regular Members to supply us with ideas on how we can enhance public education and awareness when it comes to safety on the water, on our roads, on our trails. Certainly as we move forward, we’ll be looking for partners to help us deliver that safety message. I appreciate the Member’s comments.
We’re in the middle of February here and we’re getting ready for our summer breakup and the ice melting away. That’s a lot of time, plenty of time from now until people get onto the waterways. It’s a good opportunity, as well, for the department to start looking into a possible program like a lifejacket borrowing program, like I said, in all the communities that do sit on waterways. Would the Minister commit to look at such a program and putting funds away so that we can ensure that our residents who travel the Mackenzie River, that our modes of transportation are safe? Thank you.
We’ve got a number of initiatives that we’re looking at for next year, and certainly incorporating something like a lifejacket borrowing system is something that I believe we can look at. I do appreciate the Member bringing that issue up today.
Further to that I just wanted to ask the Minister of Transportation if he’s done any work with our five sport and rec organizations in the NWT who do provide kayak programs, canoe programs, skiing, on-the-land programs that do transportation. Has the Department of Transportation done any work with these sport and rec organizations to provide safety to people who enjoy going out on the land?
I know we do work with the Department of Health and Social Services, the Department of ECE, and to the specifics of whether we’re working with the rec associations around the Northwest Territories, again, I think if we’re going to have continued success in delivering safety, it is important that we work with partners around the Northwest Territories. I again will commit to getting back to the Member on how we have interacted with those organizations.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do want to continue to see these encouraging results going into the next fiscal year and beyond. Just in regard to the zero driving and boating fatalities, I’d like to ask the Minister how the new proposed legislation on hand-held devices with driving has been going and have there been any infractions on that.
I think the legislation as it pertains to distracted driving is another tool that keeps our roads safe. There have been a number of tickets issued for folks driving with cell phones and things like that. We’re encouraged that people are putting their phones away when they’re driving. I know me personally, before the new legislation came in, I was guilty of using my cell phone, but now that the new legislation is in place, I, too, leave the phone alone when I’m driving and I encourage anybody else out there to do the same.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would encourage the Minister of Transportation to take the pledge to leave the phone alone and post a sticker on his window.
My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, and I would like to say that we heard a great deal about bullying yesterday and I think we heard also about the impact that teachers can have on their students. It was an excellent discussion, as I mentioned. One of the things that we struggle with is to get and keep teachers in the Territories and in our communities, particularly in our small and isolated communities. One of the hindrances and one of the difficulties that we have is that we don’t have adequate housing for our teachers in our small communities. Recognizing this problem – and I do believe the Minister recognizes the problem – I would like him to advise us at this point, because we’ve had things on and off for awhile, but at this point what is the Department of Education and what is the GNWT in general doing to try and solve this issue of housing capacity for teachers in our communities?
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We were fortunate enough for 2011-2012 for those individuals - the teachers coming to the North and also from the North - finding a suitable accommodation. It is a challenge. It’s a struggle at times for those teachers to find accommodations in the communities, especially isolated communities. This is an area that we’ve been working on in a coordinated approach with the Housing Corporation, my department, and also Health, because we have to deal with other professions as well. There is a review on the way, as Mr. McLeod alluded to, of the Shelter Policy review. This is an area that has been targeted as well.
Thanks to the Minister for that response. I know a number of years ago there was a defined program between the Housing Corporation and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to try and encourage communities to take the responsibility and for the community to provide some housing for teachers and professionals in general, I guess. My understanding is that program didn’t work very well. I’d like to know from the Minister of Education if there’s a particular explanation as to why that program hasn’t been all that successful.
There has been some uptake on the application process. As the Member stated, it hasn’t been very successful to date. We are exploring those areas. We explored that area as an option and we are also exploring other areas where the Shelter Policy review would capture some of the discussions we’ve had in the 16th Assembly. Now we’re into the 17th Assembly, how to deal with the housing shortage in the communities, especially for staff or professions that we need to take care of.
Thanks to the Minister again. One of the other hindrances for getting and keeping teachers in our communities is their feeling that they’re not safe within the schools or within the community. I know that a number of years ago… Sorry. I should back up. Some of the boards and district education authorities do have a policy, a Safe Schools Policy, but we don’t have one across the GNWT. I believe in 2009 there was a memorandum of understanding between the teachers’ union and the GNWT to develop a Safe Schools Policy. I’d like to know from the Minister whether or not that goal has been accomplished, has that memorandum been finalized, and is there a Safe Schools Policy all the way across the NWT that all schools should abide by.
I totally agree with the Member that we need to safeguard our teachers and professions in the school. I know there are some policies in place at the regional and community schools about zero tolerance on staff abuse. The Safe School Policy, I need to look into the status on that, if it’s been completed, if it is a Northwest Territories-wide initiative. I’ll get that information and the recent update and provide that to the Members.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thanks to the Minister. I really appreciate that commitment. I know, from my understanding, there’s been no response received by either the NWTTA or anybody else. I guess I would like to know from the Minister… I appreciate he’s going to look into this. Any idea when I can expect his response?
Once we leave here I’ll gather the information from my department and the parties that are involved, the regional groups. Hopefully within a week or two from now, if we can get our hands on the Safe School Policy, if it’s in place, then I’ll provide that to the Members.
