Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, committee wishes to consider Tabled Document 50-18(2), Main Estimates, 2016-2017, and committee would like to consider the NWT Housing Corporation, Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, and Department of Justice. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
We’ll begin consideration after a short break. Thank you.
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I now call Committee of the Whole back to order. Minister, would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber. Minister Cochrane.
Yes, please.
Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Would the Minister please introduce her witnesses to the committee.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my right is Jeff Anderson. He is the president and the CEO of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. On my left is Jim Martin. He is the vice president of finance and infrastructure services. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Yesterday we left off on pages 367 and 368. That is the detail associated with finance and infrastructure services. I will let committee find their place. If there are any comments or questions, just raise your hand. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I would like the Minister to provide an explanation of how the transitional supportive housing is going to be distributed to support both male and female clients? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The semi-independent housing program will be distributed by… We put out a letter of interest, and then we will be seeing which shelters come forward. We have talked with the Salvation Army and the Yellowknife Women’s Society and the YWCA. The Salvation Army, the Yellowknife Women’s Society have come forward and have expressed an interest. The YWCA, we are still working with to see if we can support them as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. According to a meeting I had at the end of last week with the Salvation Army, they have no interest in this project. I am wondering how the needs of male clients are going to be served. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is not our understanding. We have had several meetings with the Salvation Army, and they have talked about using either the main floor of the normal Salvation Army building or the bottom floor of the Bailey House. We will double check to make sure that they haven’t changed their mind. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In the event that the Salvation Army is not prepared to serve men, how will they be part of this program? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. If the Salvation Army does not commit to working with us, then we will try to find another entity to provide those services. If we can’t find anyone, then I am sorry, we will have to bring it forward and look at alternatives. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. How will this fund be divided among the service providers? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have the finances for 30 renovations. We will be meeting… All of the interested parties who submit their names forward will be pulled together into a group. We will be negotiating with those groups. We do, however, recognize that there is a greater population of men within the communities who are homeless. We would be advocating strongly within the group to provide support to that. I will let any interested parties that come forward… It would be their decision on how that is divided. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.
No more questions.
Thank you, Ms. Green. Are there any further comments or questions on this section? Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my questions are in regards to, of course, the Homeless Assistance Fund. Just trying to get the numbers down in terms of the circumstance of homeless people in small and rural communities. I understand that the department has undertaken a pilot study initiative to try to advance the idea to see if the effort can be maybe scoped out and tested on the ground, so to speak, at the community level. Could the Minister provide perhaps an update or overview in terms of the intention of that pilot case project? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Mr. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was a bit confused in all honesty because the Member asked for the information on the Homeless Assistance Fund, but the Homeless Assistance Fund is actually one-time funding that people can access for up to $3,000. I am thinking that the question should have been the Northern Pathways to Housing, which is about putting in homeless shelters. If that is the case, then we have the three communities that we are putting the homeless shelters into and that is Simpson, Aklavik, and Behchoko. Then we have $70,000 in operational funding that we are giving to those communities. That is our capacity at this time. Then in future years we will be looking at expanding those programs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to thank the Minister for reply. If indeed these are pilot cases in those three communities, is there perhaps a process in terms of undertaking those initiatives? That is a great step in terms of addressing the homelessness issues in small communities. Just in terms of process, as I understand it, a pilot case is undertaken at the community level, it is monitored, and perhaps some flexibility in terms of how a program initiative of that nature could work if implemented. At some point, there is an evaluation in terms of trying to reflect upon maybe the successes of the program experience and perhaps learn from it and maybe apply it at a later stage. Is that the case? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The process to fund the communities was actually put out a couple of years ago. We submitted out to all the communities. Actually, at that time we had funding to look at four. Only three communities came forward at that time. We worked with the three communities to set them up. They are just getting structured in now because it takes some time within government. When we look at expanding that, then we would be again submitting a request to all communities that don’t have that in and asking them to come forward and see if they would be interested. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, maybe I could ask the question the other way. These two communities that are undertaking as pilot project cases, could the Minister define what pilot project are in terms of delivering these homeless initiatives at the community level. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The term pilot… There was funding for the four and three came forward. It is just about building capacity. We really want to make sure that the communities that take on these projects have the skills and abilities and the capacity to provide them and to do them to sustain the program. We want to make sure that we provide the proper support before we go forward and to expand that to make sure that they succeed. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. Nadli? Nothing further from Mr. Nadli. Mr. McNeely.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. My question is to the homelessness initiative. Is it a formula headquarters funding arrangement where the five districts are divvied up to this particular pot of money? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. McNeely. I will remind all Members and guests in the gallery to turn their cell phones on silent and turn all audio devices to off. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again I am a bit confused with the question. If it is the homelessness initiative, that is the housing assistance funding. That is the $3,000 application base. If we are talking about the Small Community Homelessness Fund, that is also application based. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. McNeely.
If we use, in the working exercise here, the Sahtu as a model, so your application, based on what is submitted, so that particular region could hand in ten applications and get approved? Is that the way I interpret it there, Mr. Chair?
Thank you, Mr. McNeely. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes. If a community does submit ten applications, each application would be considered within the community. We are talking about the small-community homeless fund. I want to make sure I am talking about the right program. Within the community of Yellowknife, or the southern communities, the maximum fund for that is $10,000. Within the northern communities, the maximum is $15,000. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Mr. McNeely.
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was referring to the Small Community Homelessness Fund. Thank you.
Thank you Mr. McNeely. Minister.
