Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled "Focus for the Future: A Strategic Response to the Challenge of Community Government Funding, August 2019." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

[Microphone turned off] then I'll be finished. In the last eight years, Mr. Speaker, I've never recognized one constituent of Inuvik Boot Lake, and I'd like to recognize him today and thank him for all the work that he's done, and it's my constituent Mr. Robertson McLeod. Thank you.

I want to reiterate, thank you. The Members' comments, you've done a tremendous job over the last four years in your role as chair, as well as the other deputy chairs. I just want to thank you for what you've done. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Mr. Chris Gargen, joining us here today from the constituency of Inuvik Boot Lake. I would also like to recognize, as I mentioned earlier, Sheila Kotchilea, who has been a very strong supporter, not only for my office, but for all Members and providing information to Members of the Legislative Assembly. I know she is going to continue to do great work. Ronna Sharegan, she has been a really great job. I know that you are going to have a good future in this House. As well as, of course, Judy McLeod, Hilda Camirand.

Just for the record, Mr. Speaker...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has been an honour to serve in this Assembly two terms. I think that my colleague on the other side said it well yesterday, that we only average about four years. I am lucky that I was able to do two terms, and I think that anybody who goes above the four years shows the work that they do for the people of the Northwest Territories. I just wanted to say, if you're doing 12 years, you have been doing a good job.

I just wanted to recognize Tom Beaulieu, Glen Abernethy, and R. C. McLeod. You look at the years that they have put in, the experience, and the work that they...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I know the Member and I have had discussions on this in terms of some of the communities, I don't want to say "that can't manage", but need the resources to assist them, and that is what our department does. We offer and provide services in terms of training through our School of Community Government.

The last thing that we want to do is take administration of the community. I have said this on a few occasions, that we would like our staff to do the work that we need to do at the headquarters and territorial level. We do get people who get elected into communities...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As part of our education courses for home-ownership clients, we do provide information on the importance and need for home insurance. As all Members know and residents know, that is a big investment for any family, and we want to make sure that they are provided the services and are able to have that insurance should something happen to them. We are working with our financial partners, though, Mr. Speaker, to look at areas such as financial literacy and also increasing the accessibility on insurance coverage for our residents and exploring options around discounts on...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Addressing the housing needs of vulnerable people, including seniors, single people, and homeless individuals, has been a key priority of this government and all Members of this legislature. The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is addressing the housing challenges faced by vulnerable groups through its investments and infrastructure projects.

On August 1, 2019, we opened the new seniors' nine-plex building in Fort McPherson. This building is one of five that were designed in collaboration with the Department of Health and Social Services and with input from the...

As I mentioned with the seniors' complex, we want to make sure that we do our best to ensure that we get our seniors moving into the nine-plex that we just opened up, but at the same time, I mean, one other good-news story is that, if we get our seniors moving out of public housing into the nine-plex, then we open up more units for any of our residents who need to move into public housing. So we are going to try our best, and I will keep the Member updated on how we are moving in terms of getting the appliances into the nine-plex.

Really quickly, we are working with our partners to see what options are out there that allow our clients to face fewer barriers around insurance. I think that education is going to be a part of that. We need to work with our financial partners to address this. I think that, moving into the 19th Assembly, because we are right on the tail end of this session, that is something that we need to look at addressing. Members coming into the 19th, I think, should continue to have these types of questions moving forward for our residents across the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.