Mr. Speaker, I believe the organization that he should be talking to is Sport North. They are the ones that are basically responsible for the trials for the Arctic Winter Games. I would like to ask the Minister if he can try to resolve this problem as soon as possible, because a lot of the parents are concerned that their children are going to be missing a lot of school and that they don’t want to see them pulled out of schools because of the amount of time that they are going to be away. Again, I ask the Minister to sit down with Sport North to find a solution to this problem so that the students don’t have to miss as much school. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, indeed, we are always looking for solutions. If there is a challenge on our hands such as we are maybe facing today, but at the same time we can certainly correct those areas. I am glad the Member is raising those issues, so we will certainly follow through with it. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about the issue of lack of legislation to protect new homeowners. If their home is built and there are problems, in essence the new potential homeowner is the one left holding the bag and that risk. Mr. Speaker, with some thorough research, I was unable to find any policies that exist in our government that helps protect these types of people from these risks. I am going to ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, because he is also the Minister who would be in charge of consumer protection services so I think that should rightly fall under his prevue. Mr. Speaker, is the Minister aware of any little known or dark policy that has never been invoked to help protect new homeowners if one of their houses goes up and fails and turns into quite a costly adventure because the builder walks away or builds a poor house? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not aware of any policies that are out there, but there are some policies within the Housing Corporation where a one-year warranty usually comes for those that are constructing units for the corporation. The best advice that I can give is if the homeowner is entering into a contract with a builder, first of all make sure they are a legitimate builder and do the research on that and always make sure that you have a warranty built into the contract. If they refuse to put one in, then I would have to seriously consider signing on with that particular builder. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I am aware that CMHC actually has the clause built in about protecting the loan. Mr. Speaker, as I cited today, back in the ‘70s Alberta instituted protection for home buyers to make sure that their home had a warranty if something happened. We don’t have to look very far here in the recent past with Bayview Estates when the builder ran into problems and the project came to its knees and a grinding halt. That put those potential homeowners at significant risk. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister look into the issue of potentially creating legislation that could provide this type of protection to people who want to buy new homes, and so when they put an enormous amount of risk, as money is concerned, they are protected? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, first of all, the folks of Alberta and B.C. are covered under CMHC. The number of people that they capture is in the hundreds of thousands and we are a very small jurisdiction. It would be quite an expensive process to enact legislation to bring it forward. Do we have the resources to do that right now? There is obviously a demand for the resources, so we would have to seriously consider that before we proceed to go ahead for such a small jurisdiction. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, people building houses in some particular cases do not require trade certification. So, in other words, the homeowner, or I should say potential homeowner, could be put at significant risk trying to fulfill part of their family’s dream of owning their own house. This government shows little interest in doing this. Mr. Speaker, it is the cost of taking a serious look at legislation that already exists. It is the cost of printing it on paper, which really isn’t that expensive. Mr. Speaker, it is not a big cost. Would the Minister commit to this House that he would investigate the realities of could this be something that this government could consider in its life? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, if it is a matter of printing someone else’s legislation onto our paper and our letterhead, it is something that we try to stay away from, because we always say, and we have said in the past, that we need legislation that is built in the North, for the North. To go and copy other jurisdictions’ legislation, that’s something we wouldn’t look at. But I could commit to the Member that we can do some research and see if there’s a demand for this particular type of legislation.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Minister for that commitment there. I think that’s an excellent solve for this particular issue, I’d be willing to help the Minister with some of the research I’ve done to show that perhaps it maybe isn’t that complicated to bring forward this idea. If the Minister would be willing to see what is out there, would he be willing to potentially take this on as a legislative initiative if we can do it this time around or certainly set it up so it’s a consideration for the next government in 14 or 16 months from now?
Like I said, we will do the research and see if it is feasible to enact this particular type of legislation. We have to understand that there is going to be a cost factor to this and do we have the money for that right now with all the other demands on the budget. I have committed to the Member that we will do some research and see if this is a particular piece of legislation is being called for in the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I talked about a desperate situation that many of my constituents have in their housing needs. I have questions for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation.
Many constituents in Tu Nedhe want to know how the Housing Corporation is supposed to keep building brand new houses for $250,000 and then leave them vacant for years while families are in need. Can the Minister tell me if the Housing Corporation is looking at other options to help meet housing needs in the communities?
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re always looking for ways to improve the delivery of houses and especially in the communities, because that is where the greatest demand is that we’ve seen from the needs survey that was just completed on some of the demands in some of the communities. We’re always working to meet the need there. We also have concerns, as the Member has pointed out, with the number of units that are built and left vacant. We’re taking steps to address that. We are working with the communities, who are coming up with some good solutions as to how best we can use those units. We’re continually working on ways to improve the delivery of houses into the communities.
Can the Minister tell me if there is a time limit in which the NWT Housing Corporation will allow units to sit empty in a community?
Offhand, I’m not quite sure about a time limit. I could follow up on that and get back to the Member. I do know that when a unit is sitting vacant in a community for too long or what the community feels is too long, then the community or the Members will usually let us know that there are some vacant units in the community that haven’t been filled and then we’ll take steps to try and address that and come up with the way we can fill these units.
Can the Minister tell me if the NWT Housing Corporation has developed plans for what’s going to happen in the communities? Of course, I’m specifically interested in Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e for this construction season. If he’s able to tell me what is going to happen in Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e.
We’re always developing plans on how we’re going to deliver houses into the community. I think part of that plan is the process that we’re going through right now with the budget process. The Housing Corporation’s infrastructure is still a part of this particular budget, so once we review that, we’ll be able to see some of the investments that we’re making into the communities and which communities they are going into. As well, we have a table of all the money that we have through federal money that is going to the communities through major MNIs and improving the public housing stock. We have all that information that I’d be more than willing to share with the Member so that he can see firsthand the amount of money that’s going into his riding.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Sorry, Mr. Speaker. With the new needs survey just completed, which I haven’t seen yet, I know that there’s definitely some needs for the seniors living in their own homes in Tu Nedhe. Can the Minister tell me if the Housing Corporation is going to be establishing anything insofar as repairs go that is specific to helping the seniors that are homeowners in our small communities?
The Housing Corporation goes a long way into assisting homeownership clients through repairs and trying to get people into homes. We have some challenges that we face. There is a gap of people that we’re looking to try and capture. I’ve given instructions to the corporation to see if we can start capturing a lot of those people who are quite capable of looking after homes, but for one reason or another are not qualifying at the moment. There are a lot of programs designed for the seniors through the preventative maintenance, where they go in every fall to do the maintenance in their units. There are home repairs for seniors that I know for a fact a lot of seniors are taking the corporation up on. When they do qualify, they get some work done to the house. As I said, we’re always looking for ways to improve the delivery of houses and repairs into the communities, and with input from Regular Members on a regular basis, we continue to do that.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of ENR regarding consultation on the issue of the caribou. I wanted to ask the Minister, the Minister provided me and some other Members with a list of meetings that happened over this issue here. I wanted to ask what his department means in terms of meaningful consultation with the users of the caribou.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When it comes to the issue of the Interim Emergency Measures, it was a very compressed time frame and efforts were made -- every effort, I would suggest -- to try to make sure we consulted with the aboriginal governments, both Tlicho and the Yellowknives as well as the folks around the lake that were users of the herd.
Within the compressed time frame that the Minister has indicated to his definition of consultation with aboriginal governments, I want to ask the Minister what his definition is of a meaningful consultation.
All the consultation we do, and have done, and will continue to do, is considered meaningful. In this particular instance there was a compressed time frame. The circumstances were such that we did the consultation that we were able to in the circumstances and had to proceed with a decision, because it was considered to be an emergency conservation issue.
So in terms of nation-to-nation building with the governments here that we in our own, I say in our own definition within this government here in terms of the circumstances, the compressed time, that we will ultimately make a decision no matter what the governments will say in terms of their feedback. That we will make decisions in terms of the definition that I’m getting from the Minister on meaningful consultation. I would ask the Minister if he is coming out with a policy in terms of this type of definition with the government.
We should be clear: there is a distinct difference. The compressed circumstances arising around this emergency situation. But over the normal course of events we have a full consultation process as a government, as ENR. I would just point all the way up north and work our way down the valley with the Inuvialuit, with the Gwich’in, with the Sahtu, the Tlicho process is underway. We have spent millions when it comes to consulting and involving all the aboriginal governments with water, with the Species at Risk Act. We’re doing the same with the Wildlife Act. On a regular, ongoing basis, with all the different herds, we have a full consultation process. We’re part of the same process to have the common end of doing what’s best for the caribou. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with millions of dollars this government couldn’t get right in terms of consultation with the aboriginal governments and the affected caribou hunters in this specific area. I ask the Minister, in terms of his consultation with even, for example, the YK Dene, they haven’t even come close to a deal. Can the Minister indicate to me if this deal is close to a resolution with this issue with the YK Dene?
We did get it right. We made, I believe, the necessary decision to protect the Bathurst caribou herd during this time when they are in great need of our support. They need to be able to recover and we need to come up with a longer term plan. So we did come up and make the right decision. We are committed to continuing to work with the Yellowknives on accommodation and that process is still underway. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are addressed to the Minister of ENR as well. I have some questions for him with regard to my Member’s statement and the situation in regard to the ban on hunting caribou. I have to say, at the outset, I need to admire the Minister’s dress today. It’s a very flashy vest.
I know that we’ve discussed last week, and the Minister answered many questions, about consultation and consultation ongoing, and plans to come to an agreement and so on. I don’t believe I heard an answer in his answer to Mr. Yakeleya. I’d like to ask the Minister for an update on the process that he is using, the department is using, to solve the disagreement with the Yellowknives on the caribou ban. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have offered some suggestions and alternatives to the Yellowknives. We’ve also taken the liberty of doing a survey through the Chief Drygeese territory to see what animals, what caribou may be available outside of the no-hunting zone. That work has been done. We are committed, when they get to us, to see where we can go and try to find that common ground. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister. He’s talking about getting back and getting together again. I wonder if I could get some indication of the time frame. When will the parties next meet and when do they think they might maybe come to an agreement and a solution? Thank you.
Tonight, at the rise of the House, I think at seven o’clock, there’s a big public meeting over at the Explorer in the Katimavik Room, sponsored by the Dene Nation. That will be our next event as it relates to caribou. We have our folks on the lines with the Yellowknives or trying to get hold of the Yellowknives to see what their thoughts are on the offers that are on the table. Thank you.
Unfortunately, I didn’t catch the end of that answer. I know that the Minister recognizes that any aboriginal has the right to hunt, and I know that he also feels that the ban that was put in place is justified, but I’d like to ask what he and the department are doing to provide opportunities for hunters within the Wekeezhii Renewable Resources Board area to get the caribou that they need for their communities. Thank you.
With the Tlicho, my understanding is that they’ve had at least two, if not more, successful community hunts already outside the no-hunting zone. We’ve worked with the communities. We’ve gone out. They’ve harvested caribou. We’ve assisted them. They’ve brought the caribou back to the communities to be passed out to all the members and it’s been a very successful, cooperative process. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I have to ask the Minister, if it’s a very successful and popular process, I would suggest that’s probably not the case for the residents of the Yellowknives in Dettah and Ndilo. So could I ask the Minister for clarification: do we have residents within the Yellowknife area who are happy with the process and happy with the outcome? Thank you.
Our offer has been there from the start to assist the Yellowknives to ensure that they have an opportunity to exercise their right to harvest in areas outside the zone so that we can continue to protect the Bathurst herd during this very critical year. There is other work underway. We’re waiting to have some feedback from them, but we are committed to trying to resolve that issue with the Yellowknives. Thank you.
