Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll have questions to the Minister responsible for homelessness today. In my Member’s statement earlier today I talked about the issue of the Betty House and how particularly it is important to addressing the need for women who need transition housing. It’s a significant step forward in addressing this particular problem and I recognize the important work provided by the YWCA as well as the City of Yellowknife, for moving this initiative forward.
BHP Billiton has generously offered and given a cheque for $700,000 to this association so that they can work forward to accomplishing this project and addressing that need. My question to the Minister responsible for homelessness is: what is the government’s specific contribution to this project ensuring that women have a place to go?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for Homelessness, Mr. Miltenberger.
We have made no specific contribution of that nature. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, what we have here is particularly very clear, in my mind. We have another community organization stepping forward addressing what really, rightfully, should be a government responsibility.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask the Minister, again, responsible for Homelessness, specifically, will there be a contribution from this government towards this initiative, and if so, when and how much? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we have a contribution and a plan and an interdepartmental plan that pools resources to deal with homelessness across the Northwest Territories. What we have here is another situation where infrastructure is being developed because of the local will to do the construction with no O and M money in place to run it as of yet. We went through the same long process with the dementia centre and we are not in the situation fiscally where we are in a position to offer up millions of dollars of homelessness money as it doesn’t now exist unless we take it from the few dollars that are shared among other communities.
These folks are moving ahead on an initiative and they are hoping to cobble together the resources to do it. We are not in a position, at this point, to contribute further support and investment to infrastructure here at the same time as we’re trying to deal with a lot of the other issues outside of this community. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, BHP Billiton has generously stepped forward, as I’ve said, on a couple of occasions, and again their generosity needs to be acknowledged, but yet again I say this: that private sector is stepping in what truly is a government responsibility. Mr. Speaker, if these people were anywhere else, government would step down in some type of form or capacity to support an NGO to help protect these particular women at risk, yet when an initiative is presented to help provide some coordinated and safe transition housing, the government is stepping away and saying it’s a community organization, they’re doing their thing, none of our business.
Mr. Speaker, there are merits here and what type of initiatives or interest would it take to draw the government’s responsibility in this particular case, because I think it’s very important that they are stepping in in a government role. Thank you.
We are, as a government, contributing millions of dollars in this community to assist in any number of buildings, with the Salvation Army, with the Bailey House, with the YWCA. All the other facilities that are on the ground here in this community are, for the most part, funded by the Government of the Northwest Territories. What we have here is a community initiative that is they’re bringing together funds and now, as we move forward, the Member is trying to push this government separate from our budgeting process, separate from our capital planning process, to fund operations that we’re not in the position to do that.
If any other constituency were to come forward and try to push in the back door to get into the capital plan or to get O and M money without going through the proper process, there would be great unhappiness in this Assembly by many parties about somebody that was seen to take that kind of route. This is a project that is deemed important by the community. They’re doing a lot of good things to get it funded, but as a government our capacity is extended to its fullest at present. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, it’s a real shame that I’m hearing this opinion from the Minister, and it’s very disheartening for those people who are trying to bring this project to life, again, supporting women who are at risk and who need an opportunity to stand on their own.
Mr. Speaker, this is more than just capital dollars; this also then leads into O and M dollars and programming dollars to make sure that this initiative does blossom and provide the types of focus and support that’s needed.
Mr. Speaker, the last question would be what type of community support, programming support and O and M support is this particular Minister willing to look at to address this initiative? It’s one thing to build it, but it’s also another thing to help support people to get on their own feet and enable them to pursue opportunity. That is one of the visions of this government and I’d like to see that we meet that challenge. Thank you.
The Member is aware of the financial circumstances that this government is under. I made a statement, as the Minister of Finance, laying out very clearly the challenges we face in our almost non-existent fiscal flexibility. We just heard yesterday in the House the concern about what happens if there’s a major fire season, for example. Where do we get the money from? The Member is clearly aware of those restrictions.
So we have, at this point, no capacity. We have a list that is a great, long list, Mr. Speaker, of very many commendable projects that all would require our assistance that Members have stood up in this House and raised on an individual basis, on a constituency basis, that we do not have the capacity to fund. They’re all good projects. Betty House is like that. We do not have the fiscal capacity at this point to be adding O and M money at a time when we all know we are trying to manage our money very carefully to face the challenges before us. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
