Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We will meet after session is over. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, in respect to the tendering policies that the Housing Corporation uses. I am not enquiring about the policies themselves, but the lack of adherence to the policies, Mr. Speaker. The policies clearly state that the use of local contractors to carry out some of the housing repairs or renovations or replacements, is always given first consideration when approval has been determined by

the Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, the Minister also indicated that he is aware that a lot of these approved repairs, or renovations and such, are not actually done right away, because of the inability to get qualified tradespeople into these remote communities on a timely basis. It is always difficult, and people don't usually see the work being completed for several months, or years, or if at all, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister if local contractors are still a priority, and why am I still receiving calls from local contractors in my communities, saying that they have been overlooked in a tendering process for a lot of the housing projects that are in limbo, that we have to wait for outside contractors to come in and do the work? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, wherever possible, we are working with the local contractors, and also working through our local housing authorities, by requesting them to take on a lot of this work, or a lot of the major or minor repairs that have to be done. Right now, most of that work is done through the local housing authorities, which do a lot of that work in-house. Most of that activity takes place over the summer months, but we do allow for people to bid on these contracts by way of the tendering process. In some cases, we do have bidders who come from outside the communities which are lower. That is why; we go with the lowest bids, wherever possible.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand where the Minister is coming from, but I also get enquiries from local contractors that have worked, in the past, for the Housing Corporation and the LHOs on various projects, but because they haven't done it either in accordance with what the Housing Corporation was looking for, or because they may be a little shy of what the basic housing standards would want to see in place, a lot of these contractors get blacklisted, Mr. Speaker, then they get turned down for future contracts by the LHOs or the Housing Corporation, for the very fact that they didn't agree on any of the projects in the past. I just want to see these people taken off these blacklists, and be put on as a priority for local consideration. Is the Minister going to direct his staff, or the regional staff, to take that into serious consideration, and reinstate these local contractors as prime bidders on any of the contracts? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do have to ensure that we do meet the conditions that were put in our contracts, to ensure people fulfill the contracts they sign. We have had incidents where people have lost contracts because of the terms and conditions in those contracts. One thing we heard, loud and clear, is that we have to do a better job of monitoring how these contracts are taking place, but, more importantly, we need to ensure the work is being done. So I am willing to meet with the Member, on the understanding that we need to get quality work and want the contracts fulfilled. I can commit to the Member that I am willing to talk to these individuals, and I will assure him that we will look at past history. In order for them to meet our requirements, they have to fulfill the conditions in our contracts.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Short supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am glad to meet with the Minister to discuss some of these local contractors. I just want to make everyone aware that when the Housing Corporation is monitoring the completion of the work that's being done, that's done by the project officers in the Housing Corporation. The Housing Corporation at the regional level only has one, two or three, at most, project officers to oversee a few hundred different projects, Mr. Speaker. They can't be in all the communities at the same time, and they can't be there to oversee a project from start to finish. So there is a lot of sporadic visiting, unscheduled visits, to different contractors...

Do you have a question, Mr. Villeneuve?

Yes. Contractors can't just put down their hammer and wait for these project officers to come in, Mr. Speaker. How is the Minister going to make sure that these projects are done in a more timely, and more scheduled, format?

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do have project officers who go out on site and inspect each phase of the projects, to ensure projects are done in a manner that meets our requirements. The job of the project officers is to make sure they go in there and physically inspect these units as they are being constructed, and not wait until after the fact, to find out they have major problems. We have had some history with regard to these types of situations, and I think we are doing a better job on our on-site inspections. There may be delays in getting officers in there, but before it goes from one phase to the next, it has to be signed off by an officer. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I realize that the officers have to sign off on different stages of construction for various projects. We have been dealing with this problem for a number of years, because of the

lack of project officers. They just don't have time to be everywhere at once, as I said. How is the Housing Corporation going to make this whole process of repairs and renovations more expedient for the clients?

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the ways we are hoping to devolve some of the authorities and responsibilities is through the local housing authorities, and allow them to take on more of these types of responsibilities. We want to build the capacity of the local housing authorities to have the staff, such as carpenters, plumbers and electricians, on site, so they can do the work in the communities. I think that's a goal we would like to meet, realizing we do have some challenges. We are working with the local housing authorities to do more of this work in house, rather than contracting it out. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just for clarification, I don't think the middle of November deadline is a go/no-go position. This is the target that industry has set for determining whether or not they are prepared to go into public hearings. That doesn't mean if they aren't quite ready then, and they want more time, that they wouldn't wait a little longer. But it's not a go/no-go date on the project. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to clarify that. That is industry's position. It's not the position of the federal government; it's not the position of our government; and I don't think it's the position of the aboriginal governments. That is what industry set as their target when they would tell us whether or not they would go to public hearings.

Mr. Speaker, these are negotiations, but I think every public position that's taken by any of the parties should be taken very seriously, to answer the Member's question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.