Welcome to the Assembly. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Miltenberger.

Welcome to the Assembly. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Todd. Mr. Speaker, in a recent newspaper article, it was inferred by the NWT Federation of Labour president, Jim Evoy, that the Minister responsible for the WCB intends to use the accident fund to finance the Mortgage Investment Fund. Mr. Speaker, this statement concerns me and I would like the Minister to advise whether this is true or not.

Minister of Finance, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would start off by saying it's the usual unsubstantiated rhetoric from this organization; in particular, the spokesperson who represents them.

Hear! Hear!

I want to assure my colleagues and the constituency at large that nothing is further from the truth.

--- Applause

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I stated in my Member's statement regarding the justice system in the smaller communities, my question is directed to the honourable Premier of this government. Mr. Speaker, sometimes the conventional method doesn't always attain the expectation of the public. There are times that you have to try something new. Mr. Speaker, I'm not about to compromise the safety of the people of this government to get into a new program. However, Mr. Speaker, the current justice system is not working in some smaller communities, especially with the offences with lesser crimes, as my colleague Mr. Erasmus has indicated. I think what the people sometimes need is to get closer to nature, get closer to their communities, their cultures, get closer to the Creator; in this case, out on the land with the elders and appear before the elders. How soon will this government enhance the plan of this government to allow the communities to take on some of the responsibilities of justice? Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the capable Minister, Mr. Ng, will work with the communities to have community justice and community alternatives to the justice system developed with the community. I know this government has a track record of working with the communities to improve the justice system, and we will continue to do that. Hopefully, next week, on Monday or Tuesday, Mr. Ng could answer the Member more specifically on his issue and alleviate that problem that his community has. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Supplementary to the Premier. Mr. Speaker, I remember during the 12th Assembly, that dream of having justice closer to the community, sentencing coming from the community for lesser crimes was on the table. Today, as I speak about the same problem, nothing concrete has been done to allow the communities to have more say in our justice system. Will the Premier seriously have a talk with his colleague and get back to the people of Gjoa Haven on how soon the community will be able to take over some of the responsibilities that community rightfully should have? Thank you.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are on record, as a government, saying that we do support community empowerment, we do support the communities to take on more responsibilities, and we definitely support the communities in taking on more responsibilities in the justice system. It has been proven already by communities that have taken on that responsibility, where they have elders' committees or elders' sentencing circles or the community involved anyway. It does help in the community and it does help to decrease the crime in the community.

Next week, I will be happy to have the Minister of Justice meet with the honourable Member and get moving on his community initiative. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Evaloarjuk.

Housing

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask a question of the Minster of Housing. As I stated, I have a concern about housing with the new arrangements to place government staff housing units with local authorities. I would like to ask if people in the communities will be able to purchase the government houses in the future.

Minister of Housing, Mr. Arlooktoo.

(Translation) The people will be able to purchase the government staff houses. All the staff houses will be up for sale in the near future.

Supplementary, Mr. Evaloarjuk.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has come to my attention that in the community of Igloolik there are eight GNWT staff housing units empty but heated. At the same time, the government is renting units to house government employees. Can the Minister explain the reason for this arrangement and the economics of this? Thank you.

Mr. Arlooktoo.