Thank you, Mr. Chair. The community that has probably benefited the most from my agenda so far is the road to Whati, securing the funding for the road to their community. As a small community, that is going to make a big change in their community.

As my whole portfolio holds a number of things, I think the number one thing that we have done in Infrastructure and ITI, in particular ITI, is our economic diversification agenda. We have moved a number of initiatives forward that I think are going to benefit the communities around tourism, in particular; the agriculture strategy, as we move that forward, we have talked about how we are implementing those in communities across the Northwest Territories; the traditional economy; and also, the NWT Arts and moving that initiative forward. Particularly that one, because there are a lot of traditional crafts that are done in the communities, and we try to bring their stuff to market, not just to residents of the Northwest Territories, but to the whole world. The department is doing a great job on that. As the Minister of Finance said, we have the Small Communities Fund that we are bringing forward, and I think if we use that along with some of the cap funding, we can make a really big difference in some of the small communities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Cochrane.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think the work that I have done that makes me the most proud of the support that we have provided to small communities was actually giving small communities a voice. One out of ten residents in the Northwest Territories actually replied to our housing survey. Every single community replied to that housing survey. We are doing things, we are listening to them, and we are making changes, and within a cultural context. Within the new seniors' homes that we have been building for the last few years, we have a gathering space for seniors to be able to socialize, which is really important for their well-being. We are looking at other things that we can incorporate into our seniors' units, such as smokehouses on the outside and things that are culturally appropriate.

At the beginning of the next session, you will hear some of the policies that we have made changes to with housing, and again, two of my favourites that are coming up here are: the new housing design that is actually for multigenerational people. I have heard that not all people feel that they are overcrowded. Not all people want to have their own little white house and nice white picket fence. Some people like to live with their family members. I am addressing that and working with that. The other thing that I am really proud is going to be the lease-to-own. Not everyone in small communities can get a bank mortgage, because of things like not even having a bank in their community or having bad credit. We are actually working with people to give them leases to own, because ownership in your housing is key. It gives pride. It works to save us money, and it works to give pride in the community. Of all the things that I am proud of is the work that we are doing with housing to address the needs of small communities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Questions to Ministers. I have next on my list, Member Simpson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, a few of the Ministers touched on this earlier, but I want to address this question to everyone regardless. It is about how Ministers deal with constituency issues. There are some Ministers who I know that, when I have a legitimate constituency concern, they are going to treat it as a priority. For example, I have had many constituency issues related to education. I have come to trust that Minister Moses' office will deal with these issues immediately, and they will be solved even if that means going above and beyond and finding creative solutions.

For some MLAs, the way Ministers handle constituency issues might not seem like an important consideration for a Mid-Term Review, so this might seem like a softball question, but I have seen the positive and direct impact that assistance from Ministers' offices can have on a constituent's life. However, sometimes I will not hear back from a Minister for weeks on an issue. I am not even sure if they read the e-mails I send or the ones that are sent back to me from their offices. I often feel like I am getting a boilerplate response, and there is no effort put in on the part of the Minister. Ministerial assistance and engagement with constituency issues also educates Ministers about the issues that our residents are facing. If I bring the same type of issue over and over again, and it just gets forwarded on to the department and whatever comes back is rubberstamped, then that Minister does not see what is going on on the ground and how their policies could be changed to better serve residents.

I want to know: when a constituency issue is brought to a Minister's office, what is the policy for dealing with it? For example, do Ministers even read the e-mails we send? Do they read the responses from the department? Do they ever send the response back saying they want something better? I would like to hear each Minister's step-by-step process. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I read every MLA e-mail that comes across my desk. When they come across my desk, I then forward it to the department with an indication of what I hope to see or what I expect to see in a response, recognizing that there are policies and procedures out there.

We do have a five-day turnaround. Sometimes we cannot meet the five-day turnaround based on the complexity; so our protocol requires us to send an update to MLAs saying we need more time. Yes, absolutely, from time to time, given the large number of e-mails that come across my desk from MLAs, sometimes we are late, and I apologize for that, but for the most part, we get within the five days. If we do not get the five days, you do get the heads up.

Sometimes e-mails come back after I have given direction, and they say what I expect they are going to say and provide the supports we need. In those situations, I will send those e-mails, and I do send those e-mails out on my own behalf for the most part. There are times when the MLAs' requests come back and what I see from the department is, in my mind, completely unacceptable. It does not answer to the question, it does not even come close to answering the question, or it is just, frankly, too policy-based without any compassion. I do send those back, Mr. Chair, on a regular basis, looking for more. As they became more familiar with me over the last couple of years, I find that a lot more of the e-mails are coming that are more in kind or in keeping with what I hope to see from the department in responding to the MLAs. We need a compassionate system here, Mr. Chair. That is what we are trying to do.

I do take the Member's point, and I said this earlier: the input we are getting from the MLAs from their constituents actually helps inform change within the system. If we do get something over and over and over again, it does ask the question: is there something wrong with the policy? Is the policy right? Is it time for a review? Is it time for a change? Some of those questions that come on a regular basis do result in real change in programs and policies within this government. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Robert C. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, when we get constituent issues from the Members, we usually send it out to the department. I usually send it off to the department, and we will get a response back. There are times when, along with Minister Abernethy, the response is not one that we were expecting, was too bureaucratic, or was too policy-driven. Again, that goes back to my earlier comment this morning. If we hear about it being policy-driven, then maybe the policy needs to be looked at. Sometimes you need to use common sense in dealing with a lot of these constituent issues.

We get issues from constituents in most ridings actually e-mailed directly to us. What we try to do sometimes is make the Member aware that I have got this e-mail from your constituent. They may be able to provide more insight into that particular issue, and there are times when the request requires a lot of information that goes beyond our five-day turnaround. For the most part, we have been trying to give Members a heads up that this is going to take a bit longer than the five-day turnaround, and then, we will provide the proper information. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Usually when we get a constituency issue, we start that process of trying to find a solution on the same day. In some cases, we will need more information, and if we cannot get it out of the Member, in some cases, the Member will share the constituent's phone number with us, or the person, and we will follow up with them directly. In some cases, the constituent just needs to go back to their caseworker or the regional staff to find a solution. If timeline is urgency, we do mark it down as a priority, and try to get the information as quickly as possible, but we look at every avenue to find a solution for the constituent, and that means working with the Member very closely, and in some cases, working with the constituent. The office does try to get a solution as quickly as possible. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Sebert.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, when we receive a request, I usually review with my ministerial assistant, and we then send it to the relevant department. I would like to think that we are always getting answers within five days but I know that is not always the case. When we do not get back to you or the person who is putting in the concern within five days, we obviously should be indicating the reasons for that. Sometimes issues are complex, but I do believe that in most cases, we do respond on a timely basis. Thank you.

Masi. Minister Cochrane.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When I first started in the Legislative Assembly a couple of years ago, housing was identified as, if not one of the major needs in the territories, if not the number one need. I am taking a moment to address the federal government because I am completing my mandate commitment to lobby for northern housing.

How do I address constituents? Housing was a number one need, and therefore when I first started, I was reading every single e-mail that came through, not realizing that I was getting hundreds of e-mails every week. In all honesty, I stopped reading the initial e-mails, and I started transferring them to the departments, and I still read every single e-mail that comes back with the reply from the departments, and I look at the initial questions to make sure that they are addressing them properly. We do try to be timely, although in all honesty, sometimes we are late. Sometimes, you will get an e-mail from my office that says, "We need more time." That might be that the question is very difficult, but a more higher probability is that I did not like the reply, so I have sent it back to get back to them, and give me something that I can actually stand behind and agree that that is the right philosophy. Yes, sometimes, we are late. We get a lot of e-mails, but I make a point of reviewing every single e-mail, and making sure that they answer the questions to the satisfaction of where I want the departments to go as a leader. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Schumann.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do not know if there is much I can add to this because we have all made our point, and yes, we have a procedure in place that does this. We have a five-day response. I believe the Premier went and implemented a tracking system because there were so many overwhelming e-mails, particularly for Minister Cochrane, and Minister Abernethy, and their departments. They get hundreds of e-mails a day, where I probably only maybe get 10 or 20 e-mails a day, and most of them are not constituency issues. They may have something to do with the Department of Infrastructure or contracting and these sorts of things.

My colleague across the floor, we share a community. I think we have a very limited number of constituency issues compared to probably the rest of the Northwest Territories, but the procedures are put in place, and the Premier has implemented this tracking program, and we try to adhere to the policies. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Questions for Ministers. Next on my list, I have Member O'Reilly.

Merci, Monsieur le President. My question is for the Minister of Education. Junior kindergarten implementation has had many issues including a $1.7 million shortfall in funding to the district education authorities, unresolved issues such as busing, and the impacts of early childhood programs including Aboriginal Head Start and Montessori. Rather than debate this, and I do not want the Minister to go there. I want to give the Minister a chance to see what lessons he may have learned. What would the Minister do differently if he had to start over again with junior kindergarten implementation, and how would he apply these lessons to future initiatives? Mahsi, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Minister Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think the big lesson we learned in junior kindergarten, and actually Bill 16 altogether is communication; that we inform Members. We inform Members as well as education authorities, councils, parents, about the implementation of junior kindergarten moving forward. It was a good lesson learned, and good feedback from Members, as well as Cabinet, and our partners. Moving forward, I think we can build a better partnership communicating with anything dealing with education, and make a better and smoother transition on any of our future initiatives. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Masi. Questions for Ministers. I have next on my list, Member Green.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, in her candidacy speech for Cabinet, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs said, "My vision for the 18th Legislative Assembly is to address many of the issues long talked about but not acted on." One of those issues is to how to close the multi-million dollar funding shortfall for communities. In her mandate letter, the Premier directed the Minister to develop a strategy to close the gap in funding levels to meet municipal core needs. My question is: what has the Minister accomplished in this, and will the Minister be able to complete this strategy during the remainder of our term? Mahsi.

Masi. Minister Cochrane.