Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very happy to hear that we are drawing near to a decision on the highway application that was submitted by the previous government. Will the Minister keep us informed if there is an immediate reply this coming fall? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As soon as we hear something from the federal government, I will definitely let the House know. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, recently we completed the constituency tour, and it was a pleasure to have the Minister of the Housing Corporation view firsthand the concerns and issues that my constituents have regarding housing, so it’s appropriate that I ask the questions to the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. My first question is: where is the current process for public housing tenants who identify an urgent repair need after-hours? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In every community that we have a local housing organization, we also have a 24-hour emergency response system in place. When those systems are called on, the emergency is moved to a priority, taking precedent over any other scheduled regular maintenance that we’re doing. If the situation is deemed not to be a priority, then it falls within the realm of regular maintenance, but we do provide a reply within a week’s business time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Members in the Housing Corporation have often talked about training and employing local community-based skill workers to deal with day-to-day repairs and maintenance of public housing stock. What is the department currently doing to make this a reality in every community with public housing?
The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation recognizes that it is important to have accessible workers in every community, and so we do strive to do that. We do have in every community that has a local housing organization, a position for a housing maintainer, a maintenance worker, so if that position is vacant, then we do our best to fill that position as soon as possible.
This is not the first time I’ve heard the matter being raised before. It was actually important that the Minister hear this concern. Has the matter been raised during the corporation’s major policy review?
The housing survey that was conducted by the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is actually to be tabled tomorrow. We’re really pleased to provide that. There were over 6,000 responses, and so, in all honesty, I do not know if that one particular, it wasn’t highlighted as a major concern, but I would like to state that when we were doing the tour, I did hear within the community of Kakisa that they had concerns about after-hours support. The difficulty within that community is, currently, we only have four home ownership programs and zero public housing in that community. Because we do not provide public housing or rental housing in that community, we do not at this moment have a local housing organization.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, often we are asked this question. I will field this question to the Minister, as we were often asked, you know, ask the Minister on behalf of our constituents that live in public housing, whether it’s in Kakisa or the 33 other communities that we have in the NWT. What will she do about it? This, of course, referenced the need for after-hours service. Mahsi.
It is concerning if the Member has identified that he’s heard that in other communities that they’re not sure about how to reach emergency responses with the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. It does tell me that we need to do a better job of communicating our services. Communications of our programs and our supports was identified within the survey, hugely stating that we need to do better on that. We will be doing a much better job of communicating the programs, the supports that we have in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker, information provided by the department indicates that busing for JK is not mandatory. Could I just confirm with the Minister that this information is correct? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know our discussions with education authorities, we did have those discussions that it’s not mandatory and that education authorities have the discretion to reallocate some of the funding that the department provides to them to offset some of the costs that are associated with busing, so that will be up to the district education authorities as well as the education councils. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I’d like to ask the Minister why busing is mandatory for other grades, but it’s not mandatory for JK.
It’s not mandatory for any grades. As I’ve mentioned, it is at the discretion of the education authorities and councils to decide if they are going to reallocate for busing to provide busing services to their students. It is not mandatory for any grades at this point. However, Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that our department is committed and continues to work with education authorities to address the busing situation when it comes to junior kindergarten students.
We are talking about a great deal of money here in terms of busing in Yellowknife. We are talking about a combined total of $500,000 for Yellowknife Catholic Schools and YK1. This is not a small portion of anyone’s budget. What is the Minister going to do to offset that cost?
I am not sure where the Member is getting her numbers from. We still have to wait and see how many junior kindergarten students, four-year-olds, are going into the school program, and then we can continue to work with the education authorities to find a solution and find ways that we can cover the costs once those numbers are established.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to advise the Minister that the figures come from the school boards. That is where they come from. What I cannot get my head around is, if JK is a universal program, how can the Minister opt out of paying for it? Thank you.
In all respect, I believe the Member is mistaken. The department is committed to covering those costs once we find those costs, and we are going to continue working with the education authorities and councils to get those exact numbers, and we will be committed to covering the cost when we get those exact figures. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to ask questions of the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation on aging in place. Mr. Speaker, I recognize that aging in place is important. I think we also recognize that aging in place for individuals in our housing is important. I would like to ask the Minister if there have been any discussions or plans put in place for having individuals age in place in their own home, in their own communities? Thank you.
Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is absolutely correct. There is a huge need for having support so that our seniors can age in place within their communities. The Northwest Territories Bureau of Statistics has shown that, although our population is slowly increasing, our seniors’ aging is increasing substantially. It is a huge priority for this whole government. We are working in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Services to provide the best care possible for our elders. Some of the things that we are doing with the Housing Corporation, we have care and mobility. We have programs specifically to deal with that, to help seniors so that they can stay in their homes as long as possible. We have actually just put in an extra $500,000 specifically for senior supports. We are looking at a different housing design to support elders to be able to stay with their family members. We are looking at a host of areas that we can support seniors to age in place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
One of the main obstacles to individuals applying for and getting loans to improve their homes, making their homes barrier-free or seniors friendly, is the land that the units sit on. I was wondering if there has been any discussion aside from the Minister speaking to Health and Social Services. Have there been any discussions with the municipalities or the lands division on how individuals can access more than just a basic amount of money in order to improve their homes by dealing with the land issue?
As was said many times in this House, when we finish getting the results from these surveys, we would be doing a full program review. Some of the issues would be very simple to deal with, some would be a little bit more difficult, and some would be tough. Land tenure is still one of those issues that we are still struggling with to figure out how to do in an equitable manner. However, in saying that, we are working with municipalities and Aboriginal governments. We are rolling out a new program that will support them, to be able to provide homeownership programs within their communities as well, areas such as if they provide the land, then we would provide the material. We are looking at other options so that we can access more land and provide more housing within our communities.
I am more or less talking about individuals who already own their homes. What type of direct action has occurred between NWT Housing Corporation and perhaps the communities and regions, whatever way the money will flow, to try to get something going this construction year? We're moving into the construction season quickly here. I would like to know if there are going to be any units in the fall term, any units where a senior can say, "I think I have a home here that I can stay an extra 10 years," as an example.
Yes, all new housing homes that we are building currently and over the past few years are what they call visitor-accessible. They already have wider entrances, accessible bathrooms on the ground floor, and again, we have programs to assist seniors to be able to access as many supports as they need to be able to maintain their residence or obtain residence so that they can age in place within their communities as long as possible.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I see this as a fairly simple process. Has the NWT Housing Corporation identified individuals that could be candidates for the program to allow them to age in place? I have said many times in the House that this is essential. It is essential to government. If we can keep a senior in their own home, we are saving $140,000 not having them in long-term care. I would like to know if the NWT Housing Corporation has actually identified people this year, not next year, because then we'll be in our third year of planning. This year, if there are going to be any units on the ground that are going to be improved to barrier-free so that individual seniors can remain in their homes. Thank you.
Masi. Minister of NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, within this fiscal year, we will have a new housing design that accommodates seniors so that they can live with their families. We currently use the application process where, within the application, people are identified as seniors. Their needs are taken into consideration. Seniors can apply for programs to assist them in other ways, and we are also looking at a new program that actually looks at the co-payment, to lower the amount of co-payments for lower-income people and families so that we provide better services, more appropriate services, to seniors and low- income families within our communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Justice. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister: is the Minister aware of requests from Tsiigehtchic and other communities to have resident RCMP officers during times of break-up and freeze-up? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Justice.
Mr. Speaker, providing policing services to the smaller communities remains a priority for the Department of Justice and the government. I know in Tsiigehtchic specifically, over the last year, Housing has installed accommodations so that the RCMP can do patrols overnight, and I understand in the period from January 1st to March 31st, there were 11 overnight patrols. Clearly coverage has improved and increased in the last year. I have not heard the specific request regarding the time of break-up that has been brought forth by the Member opposite, but I will take that up with the RCMP. Thank you.
As I mentioned in my Member's statement, the community is very happy with the services that have improved over the last year here, but in the government's mandate, the department has committed to supporting the developing of policing action plans for each community. Is the Minister aware of how the need for resident RCMP officers is reflected in Tsiigehtchic's 2017-2018 community policing action plan?
No, I have not reviewed the plan of late. As I mentioned, the police now are spending more time in the community. Tsiigehtchic is 60 kilometres or so from Fort McPherson, and I do realize, obviously, it takes some time for the RCMP to reach the community, but I understand that to be about 30 to 45 minutes during most of the year; and during freeze-up or break-up, if there is an emergency, they can arrange to get there very quickly. I will review the plan that has been mentioned by the Member opposite with the RCMP. I do not think we can commit to having a year-round detachment in the communities, and I believe that the improvements that we have made have improved coverage.
I am not asking for year-round coverage. The RCMP do come around every other weekend, but I would like to ask the Minister: what other actions will the Minister take to work with the RCMP to advance public safety goals in Tsiigehtchic, particularly having resident RCMP officers during times of break-up and freeze-up as of the fall of 2017?
I am afraid I cannot commit to having the RCMP there during those specific times. As I mentioned earlier, they are able to go to the community now and spend the night there since housing has now been provided by the NWT Housing Corporation. Coverage has improved. I cannot commit to having them there specifically during break-up and freeze-up for that entire period.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister at least speak to the RCMP "G" Division to see if they would be open to providing this service in the spring and fall as the community requested? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
