Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of the Housing Corporation in regard to the whole area of housing program delivery and also the change the government has made in regard to our capital estimates where we now approve the capital in the fall time so that we can deliver it through the winter months and have the jobs, hopefully, completed within a shorter time frame. I’d just like to ask the Minister of Housing exactly what is his department doing to correlate his programs with the change that we’ve made as government in regard to capital and also to ensure that people who apply on the home repair programs can get the programs, but, more importantly, have those programs completed within a reasonable time frame? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a concern that I’ve had raised to me personally by some contractors on the delivery of the contracting and how he thought if they had the contracts out sooner, they’d get a better delivery time. This is a discussion that I’ll commit to the Member that I will have with the department and we’ll see if we can work it out so it’s all in line with the capital process that we go through in the fall time so the contracts and materials can be let a lot sooner than they are now. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I’m also talking about the whole area of the delivery care programs in regard to seniors’ home repair programs and also in regard to the programs that people depend on. I mentioned in my Member’s statement that there’s a situation I have in McPherson where a contract was let, the company came in from Inuvik in October, then the ferry went out in Tsiigehtchic. So, basically, the contractor never came back and he only did half the work. I’d just like to ask the Minister if there’s a possibility of looking at those types of contracts going out at a reasonable time so they’re put out, say, after Christmas or whatnot, and people are able to access the communities through the Winter Road Program or even the summer highway program, but do it in a reasonable time. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the application process that’s going through right now, we’re hoping to have all these folks approved as soon as possible, so then the ordering of the materials can start, so it would fit into the scenario that the Member mentioned, because it is a concern as to the lateness of some of these contracts being started and we are taking steps to ensure that we’re out there quick and the work can get done a lot quicker than it is now. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, my next question to the Minister is about a situation that we have in McPherson where we have a half-completed contract, and now the homeowner does not have any hot running water because they never finished installing the hot water tank. So I’d like to ask the Minister, is there a possibility that the local housing authority or the Minister’s office direct the housing authority to complete the work and have it charged back to the contractor who never completed the work? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I’m not aware of the particular situation the Member is speaking of, but I will commit to the Member that I will look into it. If a contract has been signed with a contractor, then he would be asked to honour that contract and if he doesn’t, then other alternate arrangements will be made and if there are some costs to be borne, they would be borne by the contractor. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In regard to reviewing programs and services of the government, again back to my original question, is that we have to also look at the program delivery side, not only the capital construction side, and see if we can correlate them so that they basically flow together. I’d just like to ask the Minister and his fellow colleagues of the ministry to work together to ensure that we correlate all our programs and services in consideration that we changed our capital planning process, but I think it should also apply to the program side. Thank you.
We are always trying to improve the delivery of our programs. We do evaluations every so often and this could be one of the things that we could have a look at and if there’s an opportunity there to change the process so we deliver our programs a lot quicker, more efficiently and have everything on the ground sooner, then I’ll commit to the Member that we’ll look into that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
