These community development plans or community housing plans are something that could be done from a desktop. We have needs surveys. We know the lay of the communities. We have been dealing with these communities ever since the Housing Corporation was formed in 1974. We know what is there. Why are we sending people into the communities? We have 19 or 20 communities that have LHOs. We could use them.
We need to get this thing started. If it is going to take six years or five years to get all 33 communities done, by the time that we are done the last ones, the first ones would be obsolete. We need to be able to do all of them quickly. These things can be done in hours, not months. They can be done in hours. I would like to know: with the process that this Minister is taking to go through community development, how long is it going to take to do all 33 communities?
I don't currently have a timeline for all 33 communities right now. As I mentioned in my Minister's statement, we do have to do a needs assessment. As I mentioned as well, one of the lessons learned through the Voices on Housing survey was the importance of local voices and local input in creating these housing plans. As I mentioned, it is going to require five steps; the pre-planning phase, the needs assessment, which is very important, as well as the housing plan, implementation, and monitoring. We want to have very good agreements in place with the communities as we move forward, the agreements to participate in this, and that is going to require local input and local leadership as well as stakeholders in the communities to tell us what is best for them moving forward.
The NWT Housing Corporation probably has the best perspective of what is on the ground in all of the communities, comparing one community to another in order to allocate resources. Why are we waiting to have somebody agree, signing agreements, in order to do community housing plans? Planning is our responsibility. We need to do the planning. In order to do it, we don't have to just plan. We need to implement the work on the ground.
We have been talking about this for a long time. I started talking about community development plans in 2007. I asked questions in 2007 and asked this government to develop community development housing plans. Today we are now pre-planning to plan community housing plans. I would like to ask the Minister if he could look at the mandates that will be affected by improving housing situations, and I would like to ask the Minister if the mandate priorities played into the community development plans.
As I mentioned, we are going to be getting information from our local leadership and our local membership on what their priorities are in their community. That way, it can help us better identify where we are going to put our investments as a government, and the investments that we got from the federal government, how we are going to be spending those dollars to meet the needs of each of the communities as we roll out these community housing plans. That is going to take input from our local leadership, our local membership, our stakeholders, and working with our partners to address the housing needs across the Northwest Territories. With anything that we do, as I mentioned, with the needs assessment and the preplanning phase as we implement these housing plans, of course, we are going to look at addressing how it is going to impact our mandate on our core needs as well as our most vulnerable people in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can tell the Minster what we need in the communities I represent. I can tell the Minster that we need to address the home ownership of the seniors so that the seniors can remain in their homes so the seniors can age in place. That is the number one priority. That is the priority where people come to me almost every day. There are seniors coming to me almost every day saying, "I need my house repaired. I need my furnace done. I need this. I need that." That is where that comes from.
As far as the social housing portfolio goes, Mr. Speaker, the public housing or social housing portfolio that the community -- LHOs are doing a fantastic job. People are in their homes. If there are any maintenance issues, they go in and they repair it. Where the big gap lies is repairing home ownership units that were built several years ago for the seniors, several years ago for families. I think it is that simple. I would like the Minister to just focus in on one thing. I would like to ask the Minister if he would look at the core needs as they were presented on the 2014 needs survey and follow that so that he can begin to put work on the ground, as opposed to more planning. Thank you.
I have made statements in the House on all the programs, the initiatives that we are doing through the NWT Housing Corporation, and I appreciate the Member making some good comments with our LHOs, our district offices, as well, trying to get out to the communities to address the needs and the maintenance and the operations, which is always a big issue. We are trying to address those, as well. Even, we are working with people who are in the home ownership.
The Member had mentioned senior housing. We do have a senior housing planning study that we are going to be using to look at where we need to put our investments, as well. You know, we are doing the best that we can with the resources that we have in our district offices. I encourage our leadership to have those discussions.
I have said in this House we are going to be looking at doing a northern housing summit here in the NWT. Initially, it was going to be an Indigenous housing summit, but we figured, you know, why not invite our other jurisdictions, such as the Yukon, Nunavut, and bring Yellowknife and regional centres up to Inuvik to have those discussions and look at what some of our partners are doing, such as the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. The work is under way. We have a lot of good initiatives going on, and we will continue to inform Members and the public on what those programs are. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Premier. The Premier is also the Minister responsible for Executive and Indigenous Affairs. Mr. Speaker, I spoke earlier today with regard to the urgency with settling the land rights agreements. We have obviously many good reasons for wanting to do that. Can the Premier start by updating this House and the public on the status of the unsettled land rights in the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories is actively involved in land and resource negotiations in most areas of the Northwest Territories without modern treaties. Today, we are in final agreement negotiations with the Acho Dene Koe First Nation from Fort Liard and with the Northwest Territories Metis Nation. In addition, negotiations with the Akaitcho Dene First Nations are making good progress towards completing a draft of an agreement-in-principle. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
It seems like there might still be some hope to get some of these land rights agreements done. I won't go into detail in terms of asking about the Dehcho or the Metis at this point. I will maybe save that for a later date. I would like to ask the Premier about self-government agreements. They, too, are of value to us. The Premier has expressed confidence in this House in the past that we will get through a number of those, as well. I would like to ask the Premier: can he please advise us on the status of these negotiations, and does he still believe that, within the life of this Assembly, a number of them will get finalized?
I was very pleased to be able to go to Norman Wells in January to sign the self-government agreement-in-principle for the Sahtu Dene and Metis of Norman Wells. This is a significant milestone that all parties should be proud of. In addition, the Sahtu Dene and Metis of Tulita are reviewing a self-government agreement-in-principle for finalization, and self-government negotiations are also under way in Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake. Negotiations are also well advanced toward concluding an Inuvialuit final self-government agreement. I am also happy to report the self-government negotiations with the Gwich'in have resumed following a break in negotiations where the Gwich'in considered how they wanted to approach self-government.
All right. There is some positive information there for the public. That is much appreciated from the Premier. As we know, the NWT is seen as a favourable place to invest in with regard to mineral development. We also know that residents are counting on progress on recreational land-use plans, and the business community wants to develop new sectors of diversified economy like agriculture, forestry, and others. I would like to ask the Minister: how can we reassure these sectors that there will be certainty in the future as it relates to getting these land rights settled, the self-governments negotiated, and getting land-use plans in place?
The Government of the Northwest Territories continues to place a high priority on negotiating these complex and very important agreements. The Government of the Northwest Territories recognizes that the certainty provided by modern agreements benefits everyone. The need for providing clarity and setting out the rules has also informed this government's approach to the Mineral Resources Act by laying out the need for benefit agreements.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, some of these agreements, as I alluded to in my Member's statement earlier today, have taken decades and some of them, you know, longer than I have been alive to complete. Has the government looked at other processes or possibly increasing the capacity of the GNWT teams to get these agreements done faster? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There are a number of reasons why these negotiations have taken a long time. Some NWT Indigenous governments more recently are waiting to see how new federal policies are evolving before they proceed and conclude their land claim and self-government agreements. We respect this decision and will continue to support Northwest Territories Indigenous governments' decisions around timing.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation spoke about the sometimes challenging circumstances with limited resources that the Corporation operates under. I have a solution for the Minister. That is to let the private sector come in and help unburden some of those resources for the people who don't really need them. In many communities, GNWT employees are being given Housing Corporation-owned property. Will the Minister agree to enter into market lease agreements for 50 percent of private market inventory owned by the GNWT Housing Corporation? Thank you.
Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Members know, and when we go and visit our constituents, sometimes one of our biggest issues is finding housing for our nurses, RCMP, teachers, and we want to try to address that. The Housing Corporation typically is the sole housing provider in some of our rural and remote communities. Sometimes, our developers have a hard time doing business or building houses. At the same time, we don't want to be disrupting the market unit. We have tried in some communities and we have had some contractors bring concerns.
One thing that I can tell the Member, as the Members know, I did make an announcement here in the House on that $60 million carve-out fund of the co-investment fund. I would encourage private developers to reach out to our office and work together to see how we can provide affordable housing throughout the Northwest Territories. That fund is going to be a game changer in the Northwest Territories during the life of this government. We are trying to get that information out and work, whether it is a private industry or some of our Indigenous governments, as well.
So, no. I think what I am hearing is that there is this new funding made available, that there is an opportunity for co-investment, but what does that really mean to people who want to get into market rent, for people who want to build equity through their properties to potentially resell them, potentially rent them out and turn it into a business opportunity? Is that something that this fund will facilitate?
As I mentioned in my Minister's statement, as well, we are looking at doing a needs assessment with all of our communities and community housing plans. We would also encourage the private sector to invest in affordable housing. We do have the Community Support Initiative that we can work with, whether it is Indigenous governments or private industry. The Co-Investment Fund is another opportunity that we can work on addressing these issues. I encourage the private industry to reach out to us at the NWT Housing Corporation to have those discussions. Obviously, if we can get other partnerships and stakeholders to help us address our housing needs across the Northwest Territories, we are more than welcome to have those discussions.
Before anyone assumes that this is a Yellowknife-based issue, it is not. The Norman Wells Chamber of Commerce has published a letter that is asking for the GNWT to allow fair market rent to be established by the market supply and demand and for the GNWT to base its programs around that through the Housing Corporation. Is that something the Minister is willing to do in the community of Norman Wells and in other regional centres?
I will just take, for example, the partnership that we have with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. That is a great partnership that we have developed with them. It is a good opportunity, as well, to share with other Indigenous governments as well as private industry on how we can work to address whether it is market rent or public housing needs, transitional housing.
This co-investment fund, like I have mentioned, we did get a $60 million carve-out on that. It was application-based and very flexible on how we spend those dollars. We want to make sure that information gets out to anybody, any of our stakeholders and our partners that we are working with. I also agree and understand about the regional centres and how we can address those through the community housing plans, but also working with stakeholders to help us address our housing needs.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a difference between self-governments, community governments, and private sector, and that is really what is at the heart of this. You know, it is not about building the units. It is about allowing the private sector to offer that market space and to provide a private sector solution. I am hearing more of a top-down approach, more of a maintenance of the government monopoly. Let's let the private sector come in here. Will the Minister at least reach out to the NWT Chamber of Commerce, to the various chambers of commerce and businesses that wish to be involved in this enterprise, and work with them to develop a solution that works for our private sector here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Yes, we are already doing that. We have reached out to private sector. We are having partnerships. We are doing some pilot projects across the Northwest Territories. We are learning from some past decisions that were made and have taken a better approach to ensure that our investments, the dollars that we are spending, is going as far as they can and meeting the needs of our housing situations throughout the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I made a statement on my constituents raising their concerns on speeding on the Deh Cho Bridge and, of course, we are all concerned about public safety. My questions are to the Minister of Infrastructure: can the Minister explain the role of departmental motor vehicle officers in enforcement of traffic laws, including speeding laws? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The division that looks after the highways, and highway patrol in particular, has a couple of roles that they follow. One of them is to follow the weight restrictions of the highway and particularly around the heavy truck traffic and how that has to be patrolled and followed by the heavy truck traffic in the Northwest Territories. They also do patrols out on the highway systems in the Northwest Territories. They have authority to stop heavy truck traffic, but they do not have the authority to stop civilian traffic for speeding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, how do the department and its motor vehicle officers work with the RCMP to maximize enforcement coverage?
This question has been raised in the House a number of times, especially around the Ingraham Trail. As we have stated in this House, I have said that we worked with all people. Let's use the Ingraham Trail for an example. We work with the City of Yellowknife, the RCMP, and the highway patrol, and the residents on the Ingraham Trail. In this situation that the Member is talking about here today around the Deh Cho Bridge, we would be working and coordinating particularly with the RCMP on what they can do to help increase patrols around the Deh Cho Bridge and what additional resources they can do to enforce the speeding on the Deh Cho Bridge. We would probably also reach out to the community, as well.
Obviously, everybody is concerned about public safety, especially at this time of the year. It is winter. We have lots of traffic, a lot of big semi trucks with their heavy loads travelling as far as Edmonton. How will the department tackle this specific road safety concern and enforcement issues inherent to the winter road commercial trucking season, especially around the Deh Cho Bridge?
There are a couple of things that I can answer. I will answer them all. The Ingraham Trail, we had our recent meetings and followed up with the City of Yellowknife and the RCMP and the highways divisions. Around the Deh Cho Bridge, the Member has sent me an email on this particular issue. I have already reached out to the RCMP's traffic divisions to see if they can provide additional resources to this. I have also asked the department, ourselves. We have directed the highway patrol to provide a presence of enforcement in this area as well.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit at least, at the start and end of the trucking season, to do speeding enforcement exercises, more than likely involving our resources, including the RCMP, during the start and end of the trucking season? Mahsi.
At the beginning of every winter road, we take safety as the number one priority, and the Member's point is well-noted. One of the things that I have asked the department already to do is look at engineered solutions, particularly around the Deh Cho Bridge, as safety is a priority, and we want to protect this asset, as well as the residents of the Northwest Territories travelling in the public.
I have asked the department to look at what it would take to install one of the posted speed limit signs that is permanently mounted there, with the radar one that tells you your speed when you are pulling up to the bridge. We are going to have a look and see if we have some resources within our Highway Safety Fund to help facilitate that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Minister of Health and Social Services has been waiting patiently for almost an hour for these questions. Earlier I spoke about the residents of long-term care and how we could have a few more opportunities for them to live life to the fullest, and that is in terms of activities, in terms of getting out of the facility a little bit more, and things like that. I have some questions for the Minister of Health.
One of the objectives of the Department of Health's Continuing Care Action Plan is to optimize healthy aging by increasing opportunities and improving environments for seniors and elders to lead active and independent lives. This objective contains actions aimed at keeping seniors out of long-term care, including developing adult day programs and accessible transportation to help seniors get out of the house. There seems to be a recognition that these types of activities are vital to living a fulfilling life. However, the long-term care section of the action plan ignores such concepts. It speaks more about the administrative and back-end operational aspects of long-term care. Can the Minister explain why the action plan doesn't contain any actions that support mental well-being of long-term care residents? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to, obviously, thank the Member for his statement earlier today. I would like to confirm, first off, that I personally feel that our minds, the minds of everybody in this Assembly, the minds of the staff who are working on this incredibly important file, have been turned to the exact issues that the Member has identified.
When it comes to the particular action plan that the Member has referenced, there are other action plans as well that we are working on. We are moving forward with the long-term care review that actually clearly articulates some of the work that we are doing around design and other things with long-term care. You have to take the document as a whole, as well as the work that we are doing in other areas as a whole, as opposed to just focusing in on one action item.
Mr. Speaker, people often speak of long-term care facilities the same way that we talk about hospitals or other clinical settings, but it is really, really important to remember that long-term care facilities are a person's home. In our planning and in our design, we have worked really hard, and we have a standard of design that we have been implementing and evolving. As we build each facility, we learn from the last, and I hope that all of the Members have had an opportunity to visit the facility in Norman Wells, where you can see that the facility has really been designed with the focus on a home.
We don't just focus on the design of buildings. We are also trying to improve and evolve our services around this area in long-term care facilities, and there are a number of standards already in place that help support the concept and the philosophy of home, as opposed to a clinical facility.
Mr. Speaker, we support the establishment of family and resident councils, whose role is to contribute to the creation of positive living environments to help them set up the environment, make sure that the supports come in, the exact types of supports the Member has talked about, helping people get out into the community, those types of things. We are trying to do that work. We need to look at everything that we are doing as a whole, as opposed to looking at single items. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to remind Members to shorten their answers and also questions, because we haven't gone through all of the Members yet, and it is already five minutes before our session is done. Just a reminder to the Members.
A few minutes ago, I sent the Minister the questions I was going to ask, and I think he thought that that was one question because he answered all of them. How about this, then? Moving forward, the Minister mentioned there is a long-term care review. There are regulations that are being developed. Would the Minister commit to going and speaking with the actual residents of long-term care? Because that is where I hear these concerns coming from. Will the Minister commit to him or the department speaking to the residents so that they can develop some of these opportunities that we have discussed regarding opportunities to live a fulfilling life?
