Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a follow up to my Member's statement. I have questions for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. I'd like to ask the Minister: how was the location for this new facility in Fort McPherson selected and was the community involved?
Masi. The Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Ms. Cochrane.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The selection for the seniors' facility was done in June 2013. We met the Fort McPherson Hamlet Council during their meeting to discuss the building and the location. In July 2013, we met with the Gwich'in Tribal Council and provided information on the building. In September 2013, we had a community consultation in the community. The location of the building was discussed at that point as well. December 2013 was the only time that we had an issue brought forward that talked about the location and we were asked if we could move it to the river. At that time, we looked at it and we realized that the lot was too small and also, we were using that building for market housing, so we didn't want to tear it down too, which would mean more housing needs in the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'd like to ask the Minister: what problems are causing the construction of the elders' facility to be delayed?
We had a couple of problems, actually, with the starting of it. We negotiated with the contractor in 2015 and this summer, he started working on it. He installed 11 piles in July, but we didn't have our geotechnical inspector on-site so we stopped work on that project. We need to have the proper regulators watching when they're doing the construction. As the MLA had stated earlier there were also some water issues and we are working with the contractor. Now we’re back on track and the building will be completed within this fiscal year.
When can the people of Fort McPherson expect the work on this facility to be completed?
November 2016.
That sounds great. Hopefully we have no other issues and if we do I'll have more questions for the Minister later.
---Laughter
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
