Item 7, oral questions. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services and it's about the ongoing situation at Stanton Regional Hospital. The Minister was very successful in finding new money for health care professionals and increasing the number of funded positions, but it seems from a recent media interview with the CEO at Stanton, that we are still having a difficult time attracting people. One of the biggest challenges appears to be, as it has been for some time, the lack of housing in the city. I am wondering if the Minister could give us any indication as to what he is doing to address the situation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I haven't seen that interview. We concluded an agreement with the general practitioners. We are engaged in discussions of alternatives in terms of housing in high cost areas like Yellowknife, looking at options made possible through foundations or other arm's length organizations. So there are a number of things we are trying to do in that regard. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can appreciate that he has not seen the interview. It's just a recent interview in the Yellowknifer. We have had a presentation from the Minister months ago now where his department acknowledged that one of the biggest challenges specifically in Yellowknife, Inuvik and Hay River was housing, or housing for health care professionals in the larger communities. If that's the case, he's had some lead time on this. I am wondering what strides have been made to address the situations in the larger communities. Thank you.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is an issue of housing in two communities, Inuvik and Yellowknife, when it comes to health professionals. There are also issues in some of the smaller communities when it comes to teachers and other professionals there. We, as a Cabinet, have been discussing what is possible in terms of promoting and trying to mitigate some of the housing pressures. There is a whole host of new units and houses coming on stream in Yellowknife, but I don't have a silver bullet or magic fix that is going to put in cheap, high quality housing that would be the type that professionals would want to possibly rent. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know our capital dollars are stretched very thin, Mr. Speaker, and there is a lot of competition for those dollars and I understand that. But given that there are new units, new housing units, coming on stream in the foreseeable future in Yellowknife, I am wondering if the Minister is prepared to start discussing entering into leases, so that we might provide, say, six-month transitional housing for recruits who might come up and want to see if they enjoy the North or might need a place to stay while they try to buy a house because the market is very tight. Is the Minister looking at some sort of transitional housing and would he be prepared to get into a lease for that kind of housing?

Thank you. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is some housing available, I understand, through Stanton and the Stanton foundation. At present, the government has no intention itself of getting back into housing or staff housing. We also have to be very cognizant of the fact that if we want to look at mitigating housing costs in Yellowknife, we can't just do it for one profession even though there is a shortage of that profession. We have a whole host of employees. The answer is we are not engaged in any kind of discussion where we have a transitional lease arrangement and the government is not going to make any steps to get back into the housing market directly. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Bell.

I know the government isn't prepared to get back into housing, but the CEO in the paper, who is out there working on the transition at Stanton and putting the new plans in place, is directly quoted as saying we can have as many funded positions as we want, but it doesn't mean we will fill them. He's talking about the housing needs. I would like to know if this Minister doesn't recognize that as the biggest concern we have and the biggest hurdle we have to recruitment and if he is not prepared to address that, what is he prepared to do?

Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the housing market in Yellowknife is very vibrant and alive. Some would say overheated. So I am aware of that issue. I am aware of the issue of Inuvik. I am aware of the issue in smaller communities where it's nurses and sometimes social workers and other health professionals that have to live in those communities and pay their rents. I have been encouraging authorities to look at creative options. There are business opportunities that exist here and in other communities and there are opportunities through foundations or online operations to put housing on the market that would be affordable and that would assist in this particular area, the key point being that the territorial government is not itself getting back into the housing market. Thank you.

Item 7, oral questions. Ms. Lee.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is consistent. It's always been that way. There is a federal program that's possibly underway, $193 million that the federal government has identified to assist persons with disabilities to get into the workforce. These are opportunities for us to look at programs in support of educational programs, Mr. Speaker. It does offer us opportunities to provide assistance for those who can't qualify for the SFA program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The whole problem with that is when it's not under legislation and protected under legislation, it is an unequal treatment and the students with disabilities have to follow one program to another and go to different line-ups to make their case. Mr. Speaker, why then doesn't the Minister look at a separate program that's created by this government that does the same thing as SFA but that would not violate the guidelines of the Government of Canada?

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is a good suggestion and I guess that's what we were leading to with our program where we have the $100,000 of the Literacy Association, the federal funding and we may be able to lead towards that type of suggestion that Ms. Lee is making. I have to respect the fact that we have our student financial assistance program, which is consistent across the country and we rely on that to be consistent with all jurisdictions, including the two territories. The opportunity is there for us to develop something new here, Mr. Speaker, that would serve that particular purpose that Ms. Lee is referring to. We have to address that in that way.