Masi. Returns to oral questions. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a return to oral question asked by the Member for Yellowknife Centre on February 22, 2018, regarding the housing core need action plan.
The estimated $20 million of planned activities for 2018-2019 will be resourced from the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation's 2018-2019 Capital Plan, the base funded programs included in the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation's 2018-2019 Main Estimates, and available internal cash resources realized from sources such as the sale of housing assets, mortgage collection efforts, and any residual budget surpluses. A current assessment of the available internal cash resources was undertaken during the development of the 2018-2019 Corporate Plan and will continue to be assessed as part of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation's annual business planning process.
The planned investments set out in the "Towards Level Ground: Addressing Persistent Core Need in the Northwest Territories" report were identified, taking into account the feedback received from the Housing Engagement Survey and the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation's available resources.
Specific areas of core need will be addressed through a variety of Northwest Territories Housing Corporation initiatives and programs. The following are approximate projected numbers of households to be assisted by initiative: emergency repair - 348; seniors Aging in Place retrofits - 150; new unit construction - 135; major homeownership repairs - 84; rent supplement programs - 100; policy renewal - 40; lease-to-own repairs - 90; public housing portfolio rebalancing - 30; new seniors' housing - 40; housing support pilot - 20; new home program - 11; community housing support initiative - 10; Habitat for Humanity - 3; Sahtu homeless shelter - 4; and Northern Pathways - 12.
Recognizing that a number of the planned investments set out in this plan involve territory-wide application-based programs as well as a draft future year capital plan, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is unable to provide an exact regional breakdown of these investments at this time. The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is planning to include in its annual corporate plan a status report of each of the plan's initiatives, including actual spending by region.
The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation's 2018-2019 Main Estimates includes a $600,000 funding allocation to the Rent Supplement Program. Recognizing that the historical utilization rate of this program has been approximately 40 percent of that amount, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation considers the current base budget adequate at this time. The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation will continue to assess the results of the new program and explore opportunities to align with upcoming federal programming. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Returns to oral questions. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a return to oral question asked by the Member for Kam Lake on October 31, 2018, regarding the Union of Northern Workers and the Government of the Northwest Territories' negotiations.
The GNWT and the UNW received correspondence from mediator Mr. Vince Ready on November 15, 2018, confirming the views that he expressed to the parties on conclusions of mediation on October 26, 2018. He confirmed that, in his view, further mediation talks should be scheduled to explore terms of settlement. Additional mediation dates have been scheduled with Mr. Ready for early February 2019. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize a constituent who has joined us in the gallery today. She is here as a chaperone for the Pages from the Deh Cho. She is a generous volunteer, a beloved teacher, and my aunt, Ms. June Simpson. Welcome.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to welcome the many UNW local presidents who joined us in the House today, but in particular I want to recognize president of Local 11 and Yellowknife North resident, Mr. Frank Walsh. Thank you.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Deh Cho.
Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to recognize the employees from Fort Providence, the Department of Infrastructure, plus the president of the local GNWT employees of Fort Providence, Mr. Darrel Gargan. I believe he is somewhere in the gallery. Mahsi.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Mr. Sean Whitcomb, chief steward of UNW Local 3. Thank you for joining us today.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize a constituent, Ms. Arlene Hansen, who is joining us here today and chaperoning our Pages this week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Mr. Ernie Bernhardt, who said the opening prayer of the Legislative Assembly, and also, his wife, Mrs. Beatrice Bernhardt. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to also recognize Louise Leblanc, Local 13 president from Fort Simpson, as part of the Union of Northern Workers, as well as Mr. Ernie Bernhardt and Beatrice Bernhardt, who are family friends. I had the opportunity to work with them in Kugluktuk. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize a few constituents from the Great Slave riding with us today. Ernie and Beatrice Bernhardt are with us today, as well as Daryl Dolynny, who is a former member and current CEO of Avens and a resident of the Great Slave riding. Thank you.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we missed anyone in the gallery, thanks for being here with us. It is always great to have an audience as part of our proceedings.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier my Member's statement was on the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation's 2019 election. My questions are for the Premier on government-to-government relations.
Mr. Speaker, my first question is: how are we, as the Government of the Northwest Territories, holding ourselves accountable in relation to our obligations for the implementation of the land claims agreements in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to respecting the provisions of land claim agreements and to fulfilling its obligations under all Northwest Territories land claims, especially since we are also a signatory of the land claims. We see it as our land claims, as well.
Through implementation committees, which include representation for Canada, the Indigenous government, and the Government of the Northwest Territories, the parties discuss the ongoing implementation of land claim agreements and work to resolve any issues that may arise. Thank you.
It is good to hear that the Premier recognizes it as a territorial land claim, as well. That holds us accountable. How will the Government of the Northwest Territories work with Indigenous governments to build better working policies around our land claims agreements so that we can work more closely together as we move towards self-government and our own self-determination?
The Government of the Northwest Territories is committed through the Respect, Recognition, and Responsibility document to work collaboratively with Northwest Territories Indigenous governments, including those with settled land claim agreements, on policies and approaches to public program and service delivery that reflect common interests and address shared concerns.
As Indigenous governments move toward self-determination, the Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to working collaboratively to support capacity building, the transition to self-government jurisdiction, and the delivery of public and Indigenous government programs and services.
As well, we formally recognize Aboriginal governments through memorandums of understanding, where we commit to meet bilaterally at least twice a year to discuss and resolve issues of concern or mutual issues.
I appreciate the response in talking about bilateral agreements and other ways of advocating for funding for our regions. Leading from that question, Mr. Speaker, will the Premier commit to advocating or working side-by-side with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation in Ottawa as climate change continues to affect the infrastructure in Nunakput?
Yes, we are commit today working very closely with the IRC in Ottawa not only on climate change, but other issues that affect us, such as offshore oil and gas and fisheries, among other things.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that. It's good to see that the government is open to working and actually travelling together to Ottawa to advocate. We are stronger together. That leads me to my next question, Mr. Speaker: talk about travelling. Will the Premier commit to taking all of Cabinet up to Nunakput and meet with all levels of government on issues that affect our residents before the 18th Assembly wraps up?
Cabinet open houses are a valuable opportunity for all of us in Cabinet to hear directly from people in each riding. We have two Cabinet open houses left to do, and we are prepared and looking forward to going to Nunakput, and we will hold Cabinet open houses in both of these ridings that we have not attended yet. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Premier. As I mentioned in my statement, more than half the commitments the Members of the 18th Assembly made in our mandate have not yet been fulfilled, and many of them are of immediate importance to our future. My question for the Premier is: what is the plan to complete the 109 outstanding commitments in the next seven months? Mahsi.
Masi. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are 230 mandate commitments for the 18th Legislative Assembly. Some of these are specific and targeted. Others are very broad and focused on fundamental issues that have faced our territory and require long-term efforts. With that said, we are committed to advancing each of these mandate commitments and, where possible, completing them. There are many positive advancements being made and tracked on the mandate reporting website. Between now and the end of this Assembly, the government will continue to work toward fulfilling the mandate commitments of the 18th Assembly.
I thank the Premier for that answer, but I am not satisfied with it because, in the three years to date, less than half of the mandate commitments have been fulfilled, so why will we have confidence on this side of the House that in fact the rest will be fulfilled in seven months?
As of February 1, 2019, we are reporting on the implementation of the mandate. We have 123 commitments fulfilled, 107 commitments in progress, and zero commitments in the planning stage.
It seems that two commitments have gone into the fulfilled category since I did my research. My question, however, remains: with more than a hundred commitments still not fulfilled, what confidence can the Premier give us that in fact they will be fulfilled in the next seven months?
As a government, we are working very hard and we are committed to fulfilling all of the mandates, and we will be reviewing the commitments as we go forward. At some point, we will make a determination. Some of them we know are ongoing commitments, as I said. Some of them, the commitments are very broad, so I think a lot of them are ongoing. We will be reviewing each of them to determine if they will be fulfilled or not, and, at some point in the next seven months, we can report on our progress.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my final question at this time is to ask the Premier whether he is going to involve Regular Members in the discussion about commitments that still need to be fulfilled in the balance of this term so that we can add our voices to the priorities that are established.
We track and report progress on all the commitments and, as always, we welcome feedback and input from the Members as to what the priorities should be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have seen these regional wellness councils become part of our health system and the Minister has talked about how well it's working, so there are some questions I need to ask because constituents and people have been asking me these questions. Can the Minister of Health and Social Services confirm: does the Department of Health and Social Services and NWT Health and Social Services provide the standard orientation for regional wellness councils on what their roles and responsibilities are? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
