Thank you, Ms. Lee. Time for question period has expired; however, I will allow the Member a supplementary question. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is not only affecting my constituency; it’s affecting other regions throughout the Northwest Territories. We have some 28 communities that are struggling with health care systems. We have ten communities that don’t have policing or in some cases a nurse in those communities. I think it’s important that we realize this is a challenge we have to face. Realistically, it comes down to quality of health care and services to all people in the Northwest Territories.

I know you’re going to go around and have consultations and everything else, but for me that’s just another way of not doing anything. I’d just like to ask the Minister: how soon can the residents in the Mackenzie Delta — Tsiigehtchic, McPherson and wherever else — actually see physical bodies in our communities?

I was not suggesting that I was going to engage in any consultation. The fact is that McPherson has a nursing station and residence and nurses there. Tsiigehtchic has nursing service. It’s just that the nurses visit, I believe, once a week or every second week or so. We are working with Beaufort-Delta to extend the nursing coverage in Tsiigehtchic. I have asked them to give me all options possible, and I have committed to the Member that I will have an answer for him by the next business plan meeting, which is in November.

Again, that is not health service that would improve the quality of life in communities. Having someone go into a community for a couple of hours once a week, in some cases once a month, is not medical service. I don’t know which part of that picture the Minister doesn’t get, but that, to me, is basically not services. I want to actually physically see a nurse operating out of the health centres in our communities. We have built health centres throughout the Northwest Territories, health centres that should be managed by a health professional in that community.

When can we expect to actually see the health professionals working out of those health centres that this government has spent millions of dollars to establish in our communities? When can we functionally see our health centres operating in our communities?

As the Member is well aware, the health centres and health care programs are being delivered by Beaufort-Delta health authority. The department is working really closely with them to look at all the funding available and see how we could help, from the department level, to enhance the nursing services in Tsiigehtchic. We do have a shortage of nurses everywhere. I know the Member wanted me to see if the visiting nurse at Tsiigehtchic could spend more time there. I am looking at that option, and I will get back to the Member as soon as I can.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s been six years since the community of Tsiigehtchic has had a nurse in that community. Six years. If you pulled that off anywhere in Yellowknife — shut down one of their clinics for a week — you’d have a protest on your hands. It’s been six years since a nurse has been based in that community for any long period of time. For me, that is the issue we’re dealing with here today.

I’d like to ask the Minister: do you have any idea when they can physically see a nurse in the community of Tsiigehtchic, since they’ve been waiting six years?

I understand that there was a nurse about five years ago, and that nurse moved to Hay River. Since then Tsiigehtchic has had a visiting nurse. The Member has been keeping me informed of the situation from day one. I am absolutely doing everything I can to extend the nursing coverage there. I have directed the department to work with Beaufort-Delta to enhance the services in Tsiigehtchic. That is a commitment I can give. I cannot give an exact date of when that’s going to happen, but I’ve committed to the Member to get back to him on that.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Item 8, written questions. Item 9, petitions. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I request unanimous consent to return to item 7, oral questions.

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to go back to item 7, oral questions.

Unanimous consent granted.

Return to Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The other day Mr. Richard Nerysoo was here, and I had a chance to speak to him. He’s the president of the Gwich’in Tribal Council. It’s always a pleasure to speak to him, because he always has a lot of wisdom and experience that he brings forward. I learn a lot when I speak to folks like him.

In our discussion this year we had a talk about the Gwich’in Wellness Camp, and I posed a question to him: would the Gwich’in folks be willing or interested if some type of discussion could be created between the Department of Health and them about having a treatment centre located at that fine establishment they’ve created just outside of Inuvik?

My question to the Minister of Health and Social Services is: would she be willing to open up some type of dialogue with the Gwich’in Tribal Council to maybe pursue this type of initiative so that we could have a treatment centre in the North where our money is invested back into our people in the North? Would she consider that type of dialogue and discussion with Richard Nerysoo and the Gwich’in Tribal Council?

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely, and I have been having that dialogue and discussion. I’ve had a meeting not only with Chief Nerysoo but also with a former president of the Gwich’in Tribal Council, Fred Carmichael. I’ve also met with health reps of the Gwich’in Tribal Council. I had a meeting with the staff at Gwich’in Wellness Centre when we were there. We do have an active proposal on my desk and in the department. We are working through to see how we could assist with the wellness centre in the next upcoming business plan.

Mr. Speaker, I was going to leave it at that, but just one thing did pique my interest when I talked to Mr. Nerysoo. He didn’t seem to portray that any dialogue was actually happening to that effect. So I would ask the Minister if she’d be willing to recontact President Richard Nerysoo on this matter just to make sure that everyone’s in the loop on this matter and that this initiative is going forward. Because as far as I’m concerned, helping people is the primary goal here, not where we’re helping people, and that’s why it’s important.

Yes, and I have been communicating also with the Member for Mackenzie Delta on this issue. I’m not sure if the wellness centre is looking for treatment programming. They have lots of creative ideas about how they want to use that facility, and the department is certainly there to assist them in any way it can.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a couple of questions for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. In the Northwest Territories the impediment to a lot of first time home buyers is a down payment. I know that we do have programming at the Housing Corporation that helps people in that regard, but oftentimes people have monies locked into pension plans, such as superannuation and whatnot. I’m wondering if the Housing Corporation has ever given any consideration to looking at implementing a program where people could access or…. They can’t get this money, but they could use it as collateral toward a down payment and then pay it back over a set period of time.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I don’t believe we’ve…. At least I haven’t been involved in any discussion where loans would be provided on the basis that the Member has mentioned. I could indicate to the Member that we are right now reviewing our thresholds and different ways we can help homeowners deal with the projects that would enhance their homes in terms of energy efficiency. I could certainly include this as part of the discussion so that we can get a better understanding and see if there’s a potential to do something with folks that have dollars locked in and want to utilize some housing loans to help them.

I know the Housing Corporation has helped many people in the North get into their own homes, and I appreciate the help that they have given. I think this would just augment it if they could look at something like this. It could augment a person’s or a couple’s ability to get into their own home. I think that will stimulate the economy. The more people we can have purchasing their own homes and living in their own homes, that’s always a good thing.

I’d like to ask the Minister regarding what he was speaking of earlier. Is that going to come through committee? It sounds like he’s interested in this. Will he be working with the committee to try to get our opinions on things that the Housing Corporation could be looking at?

Yes, Mr. Chairman, it is something that we’d certainly like to consider. My direction to the Housing Corporation was to do a number of things on a number of fronts. One of the areas that had come forward from the Members was the concern over housing projects being left empty because people can’t get into these units because of financing situations — whether it’s low income or high income. We are currently reviewing the thresholds. We can make sure every threshold on the low end for the communities is able to accommodate people adequately. There are different income levels, different costs of living in each community.

We’re also looking at the thresholds on the higher end so that maybe we can increase the number of people that would qualify by opening up by $5,000 or $10,000 more. We certainly wanted to be able to address the high number of people that we are starting to see in the community with high incomes but who just are not in the situation where they can go to the bank, either because they don’t know the process, they’re not able to qualify for loans for various reasons or they just don’t have the ability to wade through the process that’s there. That includes designing units from our organization. So

there are a number of things we’d like to do, even though they’re over the threshold. The possibility of providing loans is something we can look at, as the Member has suggested.

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the Minister. I welcome his comments. Given the fact that it costs so much to live, especially in the smaller communities, people’s ability to save money for a down payment for a home is inhibited by the cost of living itself and the high rents that they have to pay.

I thought I heard the Minister commit to looking at monies people have locked up in things like superannuation as a ways and a means to perhaps allow them to get into home ownership. Again, I think that was a commitment I heard from the Minister, but he may just want to reiterate the commitment. I look forward to further discussions with the Minister. Mahsi.