Debates of May 26, 2005 (day 2)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My apologies; that had slipped my mind. I will certainly commit to sitting down with the Member to talk about methodology for this review as we go forward. I think that’s very important and I’m sure the committee would not have objections to the Member sitting in on any committee discussions we have. But absent that, I’m certainly prepared to have individual discussions with the Member. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the honourable Minister of the Financial Management Board and his responsibilities over the Liquor Board or the Liquor Act. It’s constituents that come to me, Mr. Speaker, and ask me to speak on the fact that there’s lots of bootlegging happening in our communities, especially to minors, Mr. Speaker. So the concept or the idea they had shared with me is whether it is possible for our government to institute some signage in the liquor stores to advise potential people that bootlegging or even buying booze for your younger friends is supplying minors and is an offence, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Roland.

Return To Question 15-5(4): Control Of NWT Liquor Sales

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if I understand the Member’s question about putting signage up to inform people who go into the liquor stores to purchase products for others to inform them of the penalties of that, that they would be involved in supplying minors, that is something I think we can definitely work on; putting up signage that would reflect those concerns. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Menicoche.

Supplementary To Question 15-5(4): Control Of NWT Liquor Sales

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m sure glad that the government or the Minister heard me so clearly the first time.

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I think this will go a long ways because I think a lot of people are doing it thinking it’s a harmless endeavour to help out their friends like they were just going to school with them last year but now they’re eligible to buy alcohol. But it is a crime and people should be made aware of it and it happens quite a bit back in my constituency and I’m pleased the Minister is going to be doing that. I’d just like to ask the Minister as my final question, Mr. Speaker, if he can act on this soon and look at getting this signage up rather quickly. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 15-5(4): Control Of NWT Liquor Sales

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will have the department work on that as soon as we can put some horsepower to it and we should be able to work with the contractors out there in getting signage up. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and it goes back to my Member’s statement from earlier today. From a tourism standpoint, I find it very disturbing that the renovations are taking so long at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. One of the things the North oftentimes gets criticized for is the lack of product here in the Northwest Territories for tourists to take in and have what I feel is the cornerstone of the tourism products here unavailable for public viewing for the length of time it’s been unavailable. Of the four main galleries that make up the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, the north, south and Aviation are what I would deem the northern component to the facility. I’m wondering why the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre would have all three of the main galleries closed at the same time. The only gallery that remains open is the feature gallery, which entertains rotating exhibits from around the country. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Return To Question 16-15(4): Prince Of Wales Northern Heritage Centre Renovations

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Ramsay unfortunately must have hit the facility on a day when there was a significant amount of transition. It is true that a good portion of the facility is disrupted because of the ongoing renovations, but right now the Fox Moth gallery is again open, as is the feature gallery and the mezzanine gallery. The plan is that in June the auditorium will open and will feature videos throughout the summer. The north gallery will open with a photo exhibit from NWT mining, celebrating with an exhibit that’s been sponsored or brought forward by the mining society. The feature gallery will have an interactive cyber explorers' exhibit and the mezzanine gallery will have an exhibit of Tlicho archival photographs. So while the renovations are underway, we are going to attempt to have a good portion of the facility open and available for northern visitors. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 16-15(4): Prince Of Wales Northern Heritage Centre Renovations

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad to hear the Minister say that some of the renovation work is going to get done and some of the galleries are going to open this summer, because, as I mentioned in my Member’s statement, we are going to get a great deal of traffic through the capital city here in the summer months with the AFN being here and the increase in road traffic. So I’m glad to hear the Minister is paying attention to that. I’m wondering if the Minister could let us know when he expects all the renovations to be completed at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s having an impact on the staff and visitors alike. So I’d like to know when he expects it all to be completed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 16-15(4): Prince Of Wales Northern Heritage Centre Renovations

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The total project is expected to be completed in 2006. The permanent display will open in the north gallery in the summer of 2006 and the permanent display will open in the south gallery in the summer of 2007. In 2006, the south gallery will house a travelling exhibit of Dene artefacts from the Royal Scottish Museum. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise on the heels of my Member’s statement with questions to the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my Member’s statement, $72,000 was given to one person and as far as I see it, we could have given three people $24,000 for a down payment and that would have been considered reasonable. Could the Minister explain to me in somewhat reasonable detail, obviously without giving out the name of the person who we gave it to, why there was such a variance between one down payment of $6,500 and another down payment of $72,000? That I just don’t think is right. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Krutko.

Return To Question 17-15(4): Expanded Downpayment Assistance Program

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it may seem that the numbers are screwy with regard to how you look at it, but I think the Member has to realize that this program is developed throughout the whole Northwest Territories. We have communities who have just as much need for assistance as they do here in Yellowknife. You also have to realize that this program is not only for high income clients. It’s also there to assist people who are trying to move from income support, clients who are in social housing, to get them out of social housing and into home ownership. There is no set guideline in regard to maximums. There is a maximum amount in regard to the subsidy of 40 percent of the value of the home. That applies mostly to outlying communities because of the high cost to those clients, but also in order to meet those goals we are able to work with people in both sectors. This is a universal program. It’s not just for people in high incomes. We are there to assist people who have large families, whose threshold is over 30 percent with regard to core need and are paying the high rents in social housing and assisting them to move out. That’s why you have some clients who have these high incomes.

I think, Mr. Speaker, more importantly we’ve assisted 570 people to get into home ownership and it’s put almost $70 million into the Northwest Territories economy. So if that’s a bad news program, I’d like to ask the Member exactly what is wrong with this program that we were able to assist 570 people and put $67 million into our economy. Maybe the Member could elaborate a little more on exactly what he’s really pointing at with regard to his argument. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 17-15(4): Expanded Downpayment Assistance Program

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister has been here long enough to realize that he’s not supposed to ask Regular Members questions. I was kind of hoping maybe a point of order on that, but I’ll answer the question. I’m very proud that we’re putting people into housing and I’m proud to hear this government puts in housing, but you know what? The bottom line is I’m mad to find out that we’re putting $72,000 into one house. We could have done a lot better than that and it seems unreasonable. All I asked for was for you to explain the details of why one person received $72,000 when we could have helped a lot of people with that. We could have given three people $24,000; we could have given 10 people $6,500. Explain the one scenario. That’s all I’ve asked for. I’m not breaking your legs over nothing. Explain the details. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 17-15(4): Expanded Downpayment Assistance Program

Mr. Speaker, I’ll try to be clear for the Member so he understands. There is a maximum subsidy that is given. I said 40 percent based on the value of the home. But again, it’s based on the client’s ability to pay. The affordability question comes in with regard to being able to pay the operational maintenance costs of the home and also ensure that their expenditure does not exceed the 40 percent that anyone should be able to pay for shelter. So because of those restrictions, those individuals who are in that area of more need, because of their income, receive more subsidy. So hopefully that can assist the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 17-15(4): Expanded Downpayment Assistance Program

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that didn’t explain anything, I’m sorry to say. It just said there’s a sliding scale that goes up to 40 percent. Mr. Speaker, we have a situation of $72,000. Explain the scenario. Tell me they came from low income housing and they were paying $200 a month and this government was darn well going to make sure that they paid a mortgage at $200 a month regardless of how expensive this house is. Explain the scenario. Show some transparency on this program. Would the Minister do that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 17-15(4): Expanded Downpayment Assistance Program

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, it’s based on household income and the size of the family. If you have a family with six people or seven people, it’s based on the ability of that family to maintain themselves, but also maintain a mortgage. So there are also things that are looked at with regard to how you determine the evaluation. Also, regarding the income support system, it again is based on where these units are being put in place. A lot of communities, where you’re putting $300,000 into a community, your threshold numbers are somewhere in the range of $50,000 or $60,000. In order for that family to maintain a mortgage, they have to be able to meet the minimums which are based on the 30 percent expenditures with regard to household core need. If the Member would like, I have provided him with information and if he would like more information, I can get it to him.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 17-15(4): Expanded Downpayment Assistance Program

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can see we’re slowly getting somewhere, like an iceberg here moving along the great divide. But, Mr. Speaker, let me put $72,000 into real dollars. Mr. Speaker, if I took home $72,000 in a pay cheque, that means I would have made over $105,000 that year. This is grantable money of $72,000. That’s a lot of money that’s tax free, straight across. As far as I’m concerned, we still haven’t heard the details and we have five more days of this session to go. I’m sure we’ll hear it by the end of it. Mr. Speaker, what were the exact details of this? What did they have for rental income? How many were in this family? Justify $72,000 for one family. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 17-15(4): Expanded Downpayment Assistance Program

Mr. Speaker, the Member is getting down to a pretty detailed answer so I’ll take that as notice and get the information back to the Member if he wants to.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I don’t know. I’m tempted to stay on this housing issue, but we’ll just leave it to rest for now. My question is to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs with respect to the new taxation year and new assessment year. More interest has accumulated. Letters have gone out to seizure of private property. Anxiety is raised in the communities again with all these registered mails that have gone out. I’m just wondering if the Minister can just let this House know if any progress in finding a resolution to these outstanding property tax issues and arrears and the assessment process has been carried forth from our last discussion in the last session about this issue. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Return To Question 18-15(4): Property Tax Assessments And Arrears

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is asking progress over property assessment and verification of property titles. That’s something we haven’t been able to do up to now. We intend to go into the communities of Fort Providence, Fort Liard and also Fort Resolution this summer. We intended to have our people do an assessment and verification of those communities last year, however, a number of the chiefs representing those communities asked us to hold off. In Fort Providence, we’ve had a face-to-face meeting with the leadership there. They have indicated they want to have a discussion and a workshop on how assessments are done and how titles are verified. We’re committed to doing that. We plan to do that this summer. So we’ve been able to set up or are in the process of setting up a date to go in the community and do that. In the situation of Fort Resolution, however, we haven’t done that and we would like to be able to do that. We will correspond with the leadership over the summer or over the next while with the intention of doing it this summer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Supplementary To Question 18-15(4): Property Tax Assessments And Arrears

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that replay because that was basically the basis of my next question. I think he must have been reading my notes or something. It’s good that the Minister is initiating some kind of a working group to go and visit these communities and inform them and explain to them what property assessment and taxation means and how it relates to their taxation bills and their assessment notices and community services. I wanted to know if the Minister would entertain the idea of ensuring that this working group consists of frontline workers. Not executive assistants, not the Minister, not his deputies, but actual frontline assessors who know exactly what it’s all about because that’s their profession; that they would be part of this working group that would see the community workshops take place and clarify a lot of this anxiety that people feel. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 18-15(4): Property Tax Assessments And Arrears

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think I can certainly relate to the concern that the Member is raising. We intend to send our frontline workers to do the assessments in the communities, to verify the titles, to explain the process to the leadership. However, I think it would warrant a follow-up by myself and some of my staff and maybe members of the Department of Finance to go in also and talk about the different options that are causing some roadblocks or some concern to the aboriginal governments in the communities, and maybe look at different options that might be out there on how to accommodate the issues that are coming forth as a result of the land issues around land claim and self-government negotiations. I think that I would certainly agree with the Member. The discussions with the community has to be twofold; first of all with our staff, our technical and lands people, followed up by a political meeting with all of the leadership once we are all clear on what the process is and what we can do in terms of the next steps. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Supplementary To Question 18-15(4): Property Tax Assessments And Arrears

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess my assumption would be safe to tell the general rate paying public that in these communities that have all of these accumulated arrears for their assessments that I feel are on the high end, this issue is going to be resolved within this taxation year. I hope I don’t have to bring it up next year and the year after. I just want to ask the Minister if he is committed to seeing that this issue is going to be done over the summer. We have all summer to do some workshops and everything. People are usually home. It is a good time for assessors to do stretch tape and whatnot. I just want the Minister to commit to the people and say it is going to get done and we are working on it and we look forward to seeing some closure to it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 18-15(4): Property Tax Assessments And Arrears

Mr. Speaker, this is an issue that has been ongoing for some time. We have been very determined to move forward on some of these issues that are being raised in terms of verification of titles and the amounts being assessed for different properties. Our staff has indicated that we have been ready to go into the community for some time. I will commit to the Member that we fully intend to go this summer. We would like to go this summer. We would like to work with the Member and set up some meetings and open up that line of communication and get all of this work done and some of these issues out of the way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Could you inform this House as to the status of the RFP contract that provides security for the Inuvik Regional Hospital? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Return To Question 19-15(4): Status Of Inuvik Hospital Tender

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand it has been out for RFP, but I am not sure when it is closed or if they have been successful. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Supplementary To Question 19-15(4): Status Of Inuvik Hospital Tender