Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member raises a very good point and I think it’s one that we need to have some follow-up discussion on as a department, because as he’s said, across the country all the jurisdictions have their own Building Standards Act. We ask our communities that are putting up projects to build it with best practices in mind following, obviously, all the building codes, the National Building Code and that. As I said before, it’s to the community’s benefit if they build buildings that conform to all these regulations and they have good quality product. It’s been raised on a couple of occasions now and it has been suggested by the NWT Housing Corporation as to having building inspectors in all the regions. With that much concern coming on this particular issue, I think it’s one we need to follow up on.
Thank you very much to the Minister for that comment. I’m glad to hear we’re thinking that way. I just want to note that all jurisdictions, we have faith in our communities, as the Minister has repeatedly said and used as an excuse for not having a building standards act, but I do think all other jurisdictions do have communities. Would the Minister agree that it is consistent to play this role and have some standards in legislation and that’s still consistent with having faith in our communities, which I think we all do?
First of all, this is not an excuse that we’ve used. We don’t make excuses. The Member has said, as well as I have, that we have great faith in our communities’ ability to build quality products and put them on the ground. However, it is felt that there is some need for this particular service and I’ve committed to the Member that I will follow up on this and see where we can take it from here and put all the proper research together and see if it’s something that we can carry on further here in the Northwest Territories.
I take that criticism. Excuse was probably not the best word. Perhaps “reason” was a better word for that.
I again appreciate the Minister’s positive response here. I would say that we’re very fortunate to have a resident community of world-class experts in building standards and so on. They’re very active in national organizations and government-level inputting to national standards and so on. Would the Minister agree to meet with those representatives of those associations and professionals as one of the steps towards developing this legislation?
Obviously, it would be to our benefit if we were to meet with all those that were able to provide some expertise and how we can best move forward on this. I would commit to the Member that as we look at developing this particular initiative, I will commit to meeting with the experts in this particular field.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are addressed to the Minister of Justice. I talked in my statement about rent controls or the lack of and the impact that rent increases are having on constituents, particularly in the market communities and particularly here in Yellowknife. Without a rent ceiling, many residents have been finding it extremely difficult to find the rent that’s needed every month. Our cost of living is always going up and rent is a huge part of that. I would like to know from the Minister, he’s a new Minister to this department, and I’d like to know from him when this issue of rent controls was last considered by the department. I don’t mean just talked about, but when was there a thorough review of this issue?
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do know that a number of amendments have been made to the Residential Tenancies Act over the last couple of years, but I can’t say exactly when and if any action was actually taken with respect to rental controls or whether that was actually considered by the government. I would say that rent controls, there are as many people that support them as oppose them and it is a double-edged sword. We would have to look at that very seriously if we were to look at it. At this point in time we don’t have any plans to review the Residential Tenancies Act.
Thanks to the Minister. I do agree with the fact that there are as many opinions for as there are against rent controls, but I have to disagree with the Minister that the government is taking the position that there’s no intent at this point to look at the Residential Tenancies Act.
I’d like to get a little information from the Minister on what tenants can do if there’s a huge increase or if there’s a major increase one year and then for the next three years running. Can the Minister tell me what process exists, what avenue exists for tenants to deal with what they consider as an unjustified rent increase under the current Residential Tenancies Act? Thank you.
If a tenant has a concern with something done by their landlord, they always have the ability to go to the rental tenancies officer.
That just leads me right into another failing of the Residential Tenancies Act, and that’s the powers of the rental officer. The rental officer, at this point, cannot make any decision that is binding.
I’d like to ask the Minister, if I have had a 15 percent rent increase for three years running and I appeal to the rental officer, what exists for me to make sure that my landlord is not going to give me another 15 percent increase in the following year?
I’m not familiar with every detail of the Residential Tenancies Act, but I’m happy to find that out for the Member and get back to her.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Your final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Minister, I’m glad he’s going to get back to me with information. I would like to ask the Minister if he would commit – although there are no plans at this point – to developing some plans to look into the issue of rent controls, and as I mentioned in my statement, find a solution other than rent controls if rent controls isn’t the way to go.
I’m always happy to sit down with the Member and committee to discuss their concerns and issues, and I’d be happy to discuss this in greater detail with the Member.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. As the Minister well knows, the government crafts many different policies that help it achieve its goals. One of the stated goals of this government is to have viable and strong communities and regions, and as I’ve stated in my Member’s statement, there is a growing disparity amongst the regions in the Northwest Territories when it comes to their economic well-being.
One vehicle or tool which this government has at their disposal to assist with this would be greater access to funding, to loans by businesses in the regions. I would like to ask the Minister what is the current amount of money that the Business Development and Investment Corporation has at its disposal to lend within the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently, the total credit facility portfolio for the BDIC is just under $50 million at $49.6 million. Approximately $7.6 million approved in credit facilities and $257,000 approved in contributions for this past fiscal year.
The lending limit of the Business Development and Investment Corporation, I believe, is currently $2 million. When is the last time that that cap was reviewed and considered?
The timing of the Member’s questions is good. We’re currently putting together a terms of reference for review of the BDIC and the programs that are there. The hope is that those terms of reference will be established sometime this summer so that the review – and it’s being conducted by the program review office of the GNWT – will be underway this fall. I certainly look forward to working with the Regular Members as that program review plays itself out. Certainly, the limit on lending at $2 million is something that will be in the mix.
The Minister did give me the full amount of the lending portfolio, but how much room is there left that is not fully subscribed? I didn’t do the math. I didn’t write it down in time to do the math here. What avenue does the BDIC have to come back to the government to expand on the amount of money that they have to loan out to NWT businesses?
I don’t have that exact figure but I would be more than happy to get that for the Member.
Thank you. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would it be possible to include within the terms of reference of the review of the Business Development and Investment Corporation, the possibility of a policy that would recognize, as I referred to, the economic disparity which would look at the way that this government could help businesses in the regions at this current time who have viable business plans and proposals that could help them employ and expand on the employment they have within their communities?
We know that the Yellowknife economy is doing well. It’s healthy. What have we got that we could do for the regions by way of policy that could be included in those terms of reference?
That certainly would be a possibility, and I believe as the Minister responsible for economic development here in the Northwest Territories, it’s important that we’re not duplicating our efforts, that it’s seamless, that we’re getting capital into the hands of those folks who can do something with it, that can grow our economy, especially out in the regions where we are seeing high unemployment and we need those types of investments in the regions that will grow the economy here in the Northwest Territories. I certainly look forward to the discussions as the terms of reference are established and we get to work with the committee on next steps of that review.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my statement today I questioned the assistance to seniors housing and helping seniors that are currently in their own house and what is available. My question to the Minister of Housing is: What programs are currently available for seniors in their own home?
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We recognize that we do have a lot of seniors across the Northwest Territories that try to be very independent and live in their homes. Through Housing we try to support them as much as we can. We have repair programs for seniors. Within the other departments they have some programs within their departments that are geared towards assisting seniors, because seniors like to be independent by nature and the fact that a lot of them want to live in their own places, but living on fixed incomes, with a lot of them, it is a bit of a struggle, so as the government we recognize that we need to do what we can to offer them some assistance to live in their unit. It’s still a work in progress, but I think for the most part, the government’s doing a very good job with assisting our seniors.
My question for the Minister of Housing is: What is Housing doing to alleviate some of the pressures for the seniors that are in their own house other than charging seniors rent, I guess?
Obviously, this government takes its role at trying to look after our seniors very seriously. That’s why a lot of seniors, for the last 16 years, that are living in public housing are not paying public housing rent, and a lot of seniors have sold their units to move into public housing because of that. We feel with the initiatives that we’re undertaking right now, it might keep more seniors in their own homes and free up public housing units for those that are really in need of public housing.
But as the Housing Corporation, I’ve relayed to the Member that we do have an emergency repair program that we are planning on rolling out. A lot of seniors have been able to access a lot of our repair programs where if they had to pay for it themselves, they’d be unable to do so and it would be a great burden to them. We have some of our programs that we roll out for the seniors, and again, government-wide there are many programs that offer some assistance to seniors.
My next question is: What kind of wait-lists are there in the Hay River area for senior housing currently?
If the Member is referring to a wait-list to get into public housing, I would have to get the information and relay it on to the Member. Obviously, a lot of our communities across the Northwest Territories have some waiting lists, but I will gather the specific information and relay it on to the Member for Hay River North. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
I appreciate that information. Could the Minister be able to coordinate some of the information he provides to me that the government’s currently doing for seniors, along with coordinating with his other colleagues to give me the specifics on all that available for seniors in their own homes? Thank you.
I would be pleased to do that. I’ll have discussions with my counterparts and we’ll try to put all the information together with all the services that are provided to seniors. Because we are quite proud of the fact that, as a government, we do assist our seniors very well. I will put the information together and pass it on to all Members. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister of Transportation some questions on the Buckle Up water prevention campaign. What types of initiatives has his department done to allow or to notify the communities of this campaign? Have there been radio ads or newspaper ads? How do the communities, other than what I am saying this afternoon in the House, possibly know that there is a challenge out there for all of the communities to take up this challenge and win some good prizes? What has the department done to communicate this to the communities in Dene, and French and English?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I really appreciate the Member’s support for the Drive Alive program and other initiatives by the Department of Transportation. We had an excellent safety record in the past 15 months. We look to continue that.
The department views safety as the number one priority. To the Member’s questions, the public awareness campaign distributes safety information through the Internet, through newspapers, radio, television, printed material, audiovisual resources and community activities across the Northwest Territories and will continue to do those types of initiatives so that the public is aware of the campaigns that we have. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, in the Buckle Up program, I mentioned in my Member’s statement that it’s usually for the people who are mostly south of the lake, but I also mentioned that up in the Mackenzie Delta they had Dempster Highway No. 8. Hopefully in the future we will have Inuvik-Tuk highway. They would be part of the campaign on the road there. In the Water Safety Program and the Buckle Up program, in the communities that apply for this program. We need this for the community council, hamlet council, town council or the fire department. They also go up to $1,000 for promotion dollars. When will the Minister be able to tell us when is the closing date and when will the big grand prize winner be known to the people?
Mr. Speaker, DOT coordinates the awareness campaign related to drowning prevention, helmet use and child occupant restraints to support injury prevention. That is our component of the Healthy Choices framework, so we continue to work with communities on establishing those resources. If there are community organizations that want to take part in this and help us spread the message of safety first, we would be more than happy to discuss their participation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Drive Alive program has been a very successful program. It certainly shows in the records. Has this program had any type of appetite from the other provincial jurisdictions that look at the North in terms of leadership and safety on the road, trails and water? Have other governments looked at the North on the Drive Alive program to say this is one good program and we should also be using it on a national level?
