Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs today in regards to the municipal funding gap.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department works with the federal government to try to identify funding pots there. Unfortunately, it's a onetime shot that we were able to get money from the federal government, but it doesn't help shrink the funding gap.
The Member talked about looking at transferring land. We are working with the Department of Lands. We've reached out, developed a process that was looked at by the City of Yellowknife. They accepted it. So we are working with the City of Yellowknife to transfer land. Not bulk land, but small chunks to help them move forward. We're also move that process when we sent it to NWTAC and we are working with them to look at that as well as transferring that process to those small communities, including the taxbased communities besides Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last week a colleague of mine tabled written questions in regards to the municipal funding gap specifically asking for the status of that gap and specifically also by community.
I'm wondering if the Minister responsible will commit to tabling actuals of the funding gap on an annual basis by community as this is a question that has come up annually since our term has begun. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it would be a process, and we are working on that. So whatever information we have we can share it with the committee. We could also table it moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I'm sure that the Minister will appreciate less written questions for that one as well then in the future.
Mr. Speaker, my next question is in regards to support for municipalities. One of the things that we hear over and over again is that we have to decide where we're going to put our money as a government and that we have a very specific amount of money for new initiatives. The problem with that is that this is an invoice to the government from municipalities. This is money that we owe based on our own formula that currently exists. So this isn't new initiatives. This is simply paying our bills.
Right now, within the GNWT, we have over 5,000 employees. And so I'm wondering if the Minister of MACA will dedicate some of these employees from within his department that can specifically help source additional funding to increase the size of that pie and help municipalities access funding through the federal government, even if it is onetime funding, but a lot of times what we hear is that there just isn't the the same people available to do those funding agreements with the federal government in different organizations around the territory. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the community operation division is the one that works with us. Again, we have 15 staff there but it's not all 15 are allocated to that one specific topic. But the Member has to understand, and the people have to understand, this is a shared responsibility through other municipal and community affairs. Divisions, like the community governments, sport and rec and youth, corporate, but also other divisions which is Infrastructure and Finance. So it's a government approach to working trying to get funding from the federal government. We work together. It's just not one division specifically. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the municipal funding gap is something that you hear all Members talk about. And one thing I think that we can all agree is there's huge gains to be made by closing that gap from a community level. I'm wondering if the government will commit or when the government will commit to providing committee with a draft plan to reduce and address the municipal funding gap once and for all? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department is working to update the funding policies in this fiscal year, 20222023. We were actually going to do 20232024. And we will review the data from the 2014 funding review as part of that process.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Okay, question for the Minister of Housing. Can the Minister provide a list that details the value of all outstanding mortgages owed to the Housing Corporation by communities by community in the Tlicho region? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister responsible for Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will meet with the MLA for Monfwi to discuss those mortgages and have those conversations going forward as I know that this is quite a concern for the region as well too, but it also opens the opportunity for homeownership as well too. So we could describe and explain what those outstandings look like and if we're able to transfer those units over to the constituents of Monfwi. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Okay, thank you. Can the Minister explain the process that the Housing Corporation follows in order to request the Financial Management Board to write off or forgive debts owed to the Housing Corporation? What criteria is in place to allow the Housing Corporation to write off or forgive debts? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have an extensive process that we do follow when we're working with the outstanding and any debts owing to not only the Housing Corporation but the Government of the Northwest Territories where that's how these debts are considered. We do have the corporation does have legal counsel as well too with those constant, you know, communication in between the client and the corporation. If we're not successful with those conversations with the attempts, there is direction for the client to follow up with the legal counsel for the Housing Corporation to pursue either refinancing agreement payment plans or what further we can do to try to work and recover those debts owing.
But I also want to explain as well too that the mortgages that the Housing Corporation does have for these clients is that they're subsidized mortgages. So we don't look at the with the 100 percent mortgage owing, that we do have the refinancing amount, and we do have the subsidized mortgages as well too that I would like to further explain to the Member once we're meeting facetoface. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Can the Minister provide a list of all the home mortgages that have been written off or forgiven in the last five years? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have approximately 17 files throughout the Northwest Territories that we have forgiven those mortgages, and it would either be attempts that we were we didn't see we didn't receive any payment, and there have been surrenders as well too to those mortgages, and some that we had to deal with with the estates of for those clients as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Monfwi.
Okay, thank you. Has the Housing Corporation ever reassessed a mortgage based on market value assessment? Can the Minister commit to reassessing the value of home mortgages in the Tlicho region based on the market value assessment? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do take into consideration the market value for these homeownership units but we are a social we are a social program. So our refinancing and our mortgage rates are offered at a subsidized rent, quite similar to how we administer our public housing units as well too. And just for the Member as well, that when we are looking at our rental rates as well, that we there is a comparison and we do take into consideration that if the client can actually afford the unit, we don't want to set anybody up for failure, but we want to make sure that they're financially secured to receive and to enter into a at that time, a mortgage client that is able to afford the subsidized mortgage rent. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Okay, thank you. Final questions. But I think I know the Minister has said it before, we don't want to set anybody up for failure twice. I think it is up to the people to decide, that they should work with the people on that. So does the Minister does the Housing Corporation have a process where clients can have can apply to have debts forgiven? Can the Minister commit to creating a process where clients can apply for debts forgiven or write off? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a process that the Government of the Northwest Territories does follow. We could put forward those recommendations, but we are also binded by Canada mortgage and Housing Corporation as well too. So looking at the extensive process that we do follow, we could make the recommendations but we have to really display that we have tried every single attempt to collect the money that is owed to the corporation and then we'd also have to follow the Financial Administration Act as well too to making sure that we are doing things correctly and fair.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Thank you. With reference to arrears, I think the Housing needs to take responsibility in this area because they did not intervene within the first few months of people missing payments and etcetera. I think it's the onus should be on the Housing Corporation, not the tenants, and then taking actions after that. I think the Housing Corporation should be responsible for that. So I just wanted to say that comment. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do agree with the Member as well too, that we should have had more of a stronger outreach to these clients. And these are older mortgage programs that we did have with the access unit in the homeownership and the help as well too. And I've been put the I've working within my department to work with these files. There's approximately 268 mortgage files throughout the Northwest Territories, and I'm determined to work with these files. I would honestly like to see them closed and to see the homeowners throughout the Northwest Territories become successful. But I'd like to thank the Member for that, that, you know, we should have contacted those clients at that time should they have missed the mortgage payments to 30, 60, 90 days. But it's something that we're improving within the corporation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member from oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a few questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services in regards to community wellness.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, each community provides its own wellness plan that is developed itself. The department has a staff of three community development and wellness planners who work with the communities and their wellness plans to support their actions and priorities which reflect their own preferences. The community plans are now a few years old. So there is going to be a territorywide renewal process of the community wellness plans in the next fiscal year. And so that will give communities a chance to review what their priorities are and change them if they see fit. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Minister's response. I've taken a look at the community wellness plans, and they range from anywhere from three pages to some are 20 plus pages. So they are very different, depending on what community that they come from. Also taking a look through them, I've noticed that not every plan contains mental health as a community wellness priority, for example. And while I know that perhaps there are competing priorities within communities, mental health and mental wellness is definitely a priority across the board for every single community in the Northwest Territories. I think we definitely hear that every single sitting that we're together here.
And so what I'm wondering is how the Department of Health and Social Services reviews those plans, identifies some gaps like potentially mental health counsellors or other supports that can be available, maybe it's youth sport and recreation, and how they work with other departments within the GNWT to identify what they're seeing as far as gaps for mental wellness within the communities? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That was quite a number of questions. What I want to say is that the communities develop the community plans, and they are uneven in length and content and scope. The point of having the community development and wellness planners in the department is that they go over these plans with the communities according to their this is a communitydriven process. So according to the amount of interaction that the community wants to have. They are not obliged to engage with this.
We, of course, recognize that mental health is an issue across the territory, and it makes sense that they be in the mental that they be in the community plans but there isn't an absolute obligation about what these plans should contain. And so my hope is that having been through this process once, communities may have a better developed idea of what these plans can accomplish for the renewal that's going to take place in the next fiscal year. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, I do admit that I'm sometimes longwinded when I try to ask a question. That, I will take as a pointer for the Minister. Thank you.
But the point I'm trying to make is that we have a responsibility or the GNWT has a responsibility to provide options for mental wellness so that our mental health professionals aren't overburdened and how can we support as a wholeofgovernment approach mental wellness in communities.
For example, the government has the child and youth mental wellness action plan, and within that, there is an objective in there to support communitybased organizations to deliver programs, and there's funding for the mental wellness plans that come along with that. But is there do the mental wellness plans support funding applications, then, from there? Are they a driver of funding to communities? Thank you.
Yes, thank you. In addition to the community wellness plans and that pot of funding, there are of course a number of different funds that communities can apply for. Those include addictions and aftercare supports, peer support, suicide training suicide intervention training, and so on. So they can be linked to the wellness plans or they may not be linked to the wellness plans. But when there is a deadline available for funding to a community on one of these particular subject areas, then I write to the community governments, Indigenous governments, and make them aware of this opportunity, and then they choose how they want to respond to that. People within the staff within the department are aware that capacity is an issue in some Indigenous governments, and they assist those governments in making sure that their application forms are complete so they can be considered for funding. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, another priority of Health and Social Services was to streamline application and reporting processes for various funding opportunities. In speaking with different NGOs, I know that there is a struggle out there for some of the expectations on some of the applications and reporting situations. Procurement does have a red tape working group and a mechanism for businesses to come back to the government and let them know what is lengthy or overburdensome and I'm wondering if health has the similar process. Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the priority of the Department of Health and Social Services, with the funds I mentioned, is in fact to ensure the money is taken up by Indigenous governments and communities governments so that they can spend it to the benefit of their population. And as I mentioned, there are staff in the department who work with those organizations to make sure their applications are complete.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Aurora College Annual Report 20212022. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President.
WHEREAS Minister's Statement 29219(2): Annual Status Report on the Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories 20192023 was delivered, Tabled Document 56719(2): Annual Status Report 20192023, Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories February 2021January 2022 was tabled in this House;
Annual Status Report on the Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories 20192023, and Tabled Document 56719(2): Annual Status Report 20192023, Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories February 2021January 2022 be referred to the Committee of the Whole for consideration. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Motion is in order. To the motion.
