We’ve had a community needs survey completed and presented in 2004. That was shared with Members of this House and the general public. We also had in 2006 a housing data census. The next community housing needs will be done in 2009. Mr. Speaker, that’s the information we use to allocate our budget, based on this information.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise this House if he’s willing to look at an allocation model that is based on percentage of need, and not on the number of people who need housing, community by community — in effect, allocating to communities most in need?

I’m pleased to sit down with the Member and discuss the concept he’s presenting. We do currently provide housing allocations and housing budgets based on core needs, and we look at the national average. We also look at what is the core need in each community. I fully recognize that the two communities that the Member represents are above the core need average, so I would be pleased to sit down and talk to him about it.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I mentioned that houses built under the current allocating system in the communities are now being sold in the private market, because there are no people in need in the community who fit the program. Can the Minister ensure that the allocation of money and proceeds from sales of any units, NWTHC units, anywhere in the Northwest Territories are allocated on a system that is agreed to on this side of the House — in other words, using the percentage system, the aforementioned system?

I would have to get more clarity on the Member’s comments on how we allocate the units. We certainly feel that our current system is fair. We base it on core need, and we try to balance the investment between public housing and home ownership. However, I would certainly need to have more discussion to fully understand where he would like us to embark with the new allocation.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Miltenberger.

First let me indicate in this House that I look forward to having the Chair of EDI and the Chair of Social Programs hopefully come on board as fully participating members on this very important committee so we can in fact do all of the work.

The issue that the Member raised of one size fits all. There are some fundamental principles we’re moving on, but we recognize that we’re going to have to tailor circumstances to each of the regions. For example, we recognize that the North Slave, which comprises mainly Yellowknife as well as Lutselk’e, has some unique challenges. They’re complex in a different way from most other regions. We’re recommending that we take a two track approach. We believe that we can look at most of these other regions and move ahead, but in Yellowknife we have to take the time to look at all the complexities that are there to make sure we are making the best and most informed decision, tailoring the requirements to those realities.

I thank the Minister for that. I do look forward to working with him on the Refocusing Government committee when the time does come. I guess what I’m seeking today is just reassurance. It sounds like the Minister is understanding the intricacies of the various regions across the territory.

I wanted to ask: before any implementation is undertaken on the board reform, will the Minister convey all the concerns that have been expressed to him and his staff? They’re going out and shopping this around. There are going to be concerns out there from stakeholders. Will those concerns in their entirety be shared with Regular Members, Mr. Speaker?

What is being proposed and worked on by the refocusing and the strategic initiatives committees will be, in my opinion, the single biggest piece of restructuring we’re going to do as an Assembly in terms of government and how we deliver services.

Clearly, with the Members and the Chairs coming on board as fully participating members, they’ll have access to all that information. We intend to fully brief committees as a matter of course as we proceed with the work that’s necessary as we move down the implementation path. There’s work we’re doing right now. While we have timelines, we have a lot more preparatory work to do, recognizing that this is a very complex undertaking.

Again, I thank the Minister for that. In the decision-making process, from a public standpoint, the public wants to have some reassurances as well that their concerns are going to be addressed — the board Chair in Yellowknife and even outside of Yellowknife. I just wanted to ask the Minister again: in the decision-making process, what is he doing to base a go/no-go decision on in terms of board reform, and are we going to be able to debate the pros and cons of such an initiative publicly, Mr. Speaker?

Mr. Speaker, we’re proceeding on the assumption, clearly, that we have hundreds of boards in the Northwest Territories in the area we’re talking about. Just between health, education and housing we have 70 boards. We’d like to streamline that down to be more efficient.

Over time we let things develop, often in an unplanned way. We intend to work closely with you folks in committee and all its members and committees of Regular Members to hopefully reach a consensus at the end of the day for a plan that’s going to allow us to rationalize, as the very first step towards boards and agencies across the Northwest Territories focusing on this social program area, and come to an agreement on an approach that will make sense and that we can hopefully implement during the life of this Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad that the Minister understands the intricacies and the complexity of this issue. It sounds like he will be willing to work with Regular Members to move this along.

I guess the last question I’d have, Mr. Speaker, is in terms of a timeline. Obviously, this is something we’re going to want to try to get done by the end of the life of this government. Can he share with us a timeline on the implementation of this?

Mr. Speaker, we anticipate that we’re on about a 12 to 18 month planning frame here, in addition to the work we’ve already done. To get us ready to have all the work done, as the Member’s indicated, there’s a whole host of things we have to look at in terms of assessment. There’s legislation. There are a whole number of things we’d have to be clear on, sort out, put in the proper sequence, do the appropriate costings and all the other impacts that we have to do. So it’s going to take some time. We’re going to be working through it through the life of this business planning process for ’09–10 and on, probably into the subsequent year.

That work is underway, and we look forward to the full briefing of all the committee members here in the next week or so.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I mentioned in my statement that I discussed P3 projects, and it is extremely important, in my view, that we be adequately prepared for P3 projects more and more as we go forward with our infrastructure plans. We’re going to need partners to provide us with the financial assistance in order to get these projects done. A perfect example is that cited by Mr. Bromley in his statement earlier today.

I’d like to ask the Premier

—

or he can refer it to

whichever Minister is the appropriate one; I’m not quite sure

—

to explain where a P3 policy sits on

the priority list for this government and for the Premier and Cabinet.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We place in a high priority area, as the Member has pointed out, the fact that we have to look at other avenues of dealing with some of the larger initiatives that we are looking at within the Northwest Territories. I committed to having the P3 policy review put in place. Deputies met a number of months ago. In fact, I’ve had meetings as well and invited a firm to come up North to sit down with us to begin looking at a P3 process.

I thank the Premier for that answer. I was going to ask him where we were at, but he’s already answered my question — and good for him.

I guess I would just like him to confirm that currently we do not have a document in place that outlines the process that would be followed for a P3. It

sounds to me as though it is in the works, so I’d like him just to confirm that.

Mr. Speaker, we do have a policy. It is a very old policy. We recognize that. We’re looking at other jurisdictions for policies they’ve put in place, and that’s why the review is going forward. We will have deputies meeting again on this later on this month. As I’ve stated, I’ve also invited a firm that has much experience in this area to sit down with us to look at development in this area.

Thank you to the Minister. I’d like to know if he can give me any kind of an idea of the timeline of when this process will be done and when we will have a revised, renewed and revitalized policy in place.