Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today in my Member’s statement I was trying to talk about the issue of solving some our housing problems. We’ve got one arm of the government trying to attract people; we’ve got another arm of the government of housing that likes to talk about how they work to increase the adequate supply and sustainability and, certainly, the affordability of housing, but we just don’t seem to have a conductor organizing this whole thing. Then comes along this committee called the strategic investment for cost of living. I think they could be the real focus of this and certainly the solution to this issue.
Mr. Speaker, speaking to the Construction Association, I think they are really onto something, a solution to some of the housing problem and certainly attracting people to the North and giving them the opportunity to an adequate supply of housing. I would like to ask Minister Lee, who is chair of that committee what is that Cost of Living committee doing to address the land costs to help provide adequate housing that is affordable here in the North? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister who is in charge of the committee on Reducing the Cost of Living, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated earlier, the committee was set up to do work across different departments to advance the objectives that were laid out by the 16th Assembly when we first met. We have been working on investing. We have invested in improving infrastructures, winter roads, highway improvements, airports. We have invested in energy initiatives, and the work of electricity review as well as hydro has come out of this committee. Those are some of the initiatives we worked on to reduce the cost of living in the North. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate those elements. They sort of speak to the overall bottom line of the cost of living. I certainly won’t ignore the fact that the Minister is correct that the budget does attempt to glaze over these issues. If anything, the reality is nothing really changes on the bottom line.
Mr. Speaker, the fact is, I think the Construction Association again is on the right issue. They believe addressing some of the cost of living factors are let’s tackle one of the pillars which is housing. So, Mr. Speaker, to the Minister, has the Cost of Living committee ever thought about addressing some of the costs to housing, such as land development, to help stimulate a bit of a housing boom here in the Northwest Territories that could help bring in new residents to our North? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I am aware that MACA has been working on land development issues and some of the challenges faced with land over the years. Having said that, Mr. Speaker, I am aware that the NWT Construction Association sponsored this gathering last Friday. I could not attend because I went to a fundraiser for Haiti, sponsored by the Native Women’s Association. I am interested in hearing what this Construction Association has to say based on their gathering. I understand that they are seeking to speak to us. I am more than prepared to work with other colleagues on the Cabinet and Members from the other side to see what they have to say and how we could work together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to see if the Minister will commit to developing a policy that could help stimulate a housing boom here in the Northwest Territories that does not disrupt market costs or market value in the Northwest Territories but stimulates it through some kind of a bursary program that could work through our individual municipalities again to help them with the infrastructure costs and the land development costs. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister be willing to look at a policy of that nature to help kick off our economy after this recession? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Member is touching on a lot of major issues that are the responsibility of various departments of this government. Like I stated already, I am and we are interested in hearing what the Construction Association has to say based on the gatherings that they had. I believe they are in the process of putting information together. We could always look to see how we can work together, whether it is land issue or attracting people into the North or dealing with the housing issues across the communities. Of course, we are interested in hearing that. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, not focussed at the Minister directly, but I think Cabinet is part of the problem. I think each department provides its own bottleneck to the issue, whether it is to supply land, whether it is the transfer of the land, whether it is negotiations or whatnot. I think Cabinet could actually show some real leadership to address the cost of living by helping with supporting the costs of development of the land. Would the Minister be able to bring this to the Cabinet table to start addressing these initiatives? They could start at the Cabinet table to show leadership throughout the government. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t think this speaks to bottlenecks in any department or lack of anything in anywhere. I think this speaks to complexities involved in land issues in the North, because we have municipal land, Commissioners land and other land types. Not only that, we have market communities like the city of Yellowknife and the towns of Hay River, Fort Smith, but we also have non-market-based communities where housing issues are different. Like I said already, the Strategic Initiative Committee on Reducing the Cost of Living is interested in looking at policy changes or policy options to address broad issues of reducing the cost of living. I would like to work with the Member and the association to see what they have to say and how we could advance it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
