R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the Minister responsible for Addressing Homelessness announced various funding commitments related to the $16.6 million in federal funding this government has received for housing. I have questions for her related to those announcements. Like the rest of the territory, Hay River has a growing problem with homelessness. Since Hay River does not have an emergency shelter, are we ineligible for any of the $600,000 that was announced yesterday for semi-independent housing units within emergency shelters? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you for that offer. I look forward to some collaboration on that front. Thank you, Mr. Chair. No further questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think, overall, the health and social services authority accounts for a relatively small number of overall hires, so I don't think that would account for the quite large difference between the communities. Just a concern… I've had lots of people in Hay River concerned about the lack of jobs for summer students. We, know, like the other Members have elaborated on, we're trying to bring students back and we're trying to do the same thing in Hay River. I'll just leave it at that and I'll follow that up with the Minister at another time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Ministers have in front of them how many students have been hired. I was wondering: would you be able to tell the committee the number of summer students hired in Hay River over the past couple of years compared to a similarly sized Inuvik and Fort Smith?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In previous years, the department was totally evergreened and all of our systems are up to date, so funds were internally reallocated this year to cover compensation and benefits because the evergreening for all of the computer systems was done in previous years. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Abernethy. Would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?

Are we agreed?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Finally, I would just like to ask who in the department is working within Hay River to develop a plan for homelessness, to address homelessness in Hay River. I'd like to be of any assistance I can. I'd like to offer that to the Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I understand that Yellowknife is almost a magnet community for homelessness, so I understand there is a great need here. Could the Minister elaborate on the $750,000 thirdparty social housing, the money going to social housing, thirdparty social housing providers? Who are these providers and what type of social housing are they providing, and is there any of that in Hay River?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to speak briefly about the resignation of our fellow Northerner, Hunter Tootoo, from his position as the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and his decision to seek help for substance abuse issues. I do not know all the circumstances surrounding his resignation, and likely, only the people closest to him do. I do know that this decision must have been one of the most difficult of his life. He knew there would be extensive media coverage, that it would be discussed on every channel, in every newspaper, and in thousands and thousands of private...