Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister of the Housing Corporation questions regarding the investments made into the Sahtu of the Northwest Territories in terms of having some simple homes such as log homes or some sort of simple homes in the communities like Colville Lake that could be built, in terms of being supportive of the GNWT’s vision and goals for this Assembly.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, we would like to see the local communities put more input into the houses that go into their communities. We are, for the basic shelter, just redoing that right now. We’re hoping to be able to roll that out pretty soon and we’re looking to get some input.
As far as the log homes go, there were a couple of pilot projects done in the past. At this point in time, it doesn’t make economic sense. If we can do it a lot cheaper than the pilot projects were done, then it’s something that we’re willing to have a look at. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister is correct; there was some log construction homes done in the past and, certainly, we learned some valuable lessons in there. I think there are some companies out there now that can design certain log homes and certain people could have certain ideas as to how to build.
I would ask more specifically in terms of Colville Lake, in terms of the trappers, in terms of a similar house that they could have a very basic home that when they want to go out to the trapline, they can close down their houses and come back when they open up. Something very simple, very basic, something that the community of Colville Lake or any other small communities in the Northwest Territories like Nahanni Butte or Tsiigehtchic could be appreciative of owning a home. Would the Minister look into that type of concept? Thank you.
As I stated before, the basic shelter concept is one we’re looking at right now. We need to make sure that we do our due diligence on this one and just not roll it out until we’ve been able to see that it’s something that the communities really do want and something that will work in the communities, and that we won’t have to be asked to go back later and install running water and other things, which has happened in the past. So we will be doing our due diligence on this one and making sure that when we do roll it out, it’s something that’s a worthwhile product. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I think if the Minister were to embark on this concept, it would be very worthwhile to look at in terms of people, I can speak for the Sahtu and, more specifically, Colville Lake, in terms of where there is still a lot of independence in the people in terms of their lifestyle. So this concept would work very well in that community. I’m not going to speak for other communities, but my region would certainly benefit. I want to ask the Minister if he would give his officials some leeway and flexibility in exploring with the people of Colville Lake or in the Sahtu region in terms of seeing if these types of homes can be developed in the region. Can the Minister make that commitment?
Mr. Speaker, I would make the commitment to the Member that we will have a serious look at this and we’ll make sure that it’s well thought out before we attempt to put it on the ground. We’ll seek some input from a lot of the Members, because a lot of them do represent the small communities. We’ll get as much input as we can before we attempt to roll this out. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister also commit to working with other Cabinet colleagues in terms of how they could probably put together sort of a training package, if that makes more sense in terms of the Department of Education or Aurora College, in terms of looking at a home like this in the Sahtu or any of the other communities in the North that makes sense?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. McLeod.
The Housing Corporation will be willing and the Housing Corporation has been taking the lead on a lot of the training. They’ve provided packages to some of the schools where they can use that for training. So we are quite interested in making sure that we’re able to have our Northerners trained in building these units. I would commit to the Member that I’ll have discussions with my Cabinet colleagues as to some of the training monies that we’re able to access to help see this come about. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
