Again, Mr. Speaker, I’ve been hearing too little too long. I know that if you don’t get a project on the budget process, you’ll never see the light of day.

So I’d like to ask the Minister: knowing that it is not on this particular budget this time around, can we see it in the next year’s budget, to ensure that we actually see some activity done on the project, which has been around this table since 1991?

Again I say to the Members, through our research and development fund and the Building Canada Fund, we will look at the gravel source request from Aklavik in terms of an all-weather road.

We’ll do a cost-benefit analysis. We’ll look across the Northwest Territories and see if it makes any sense to put money where we think it’s needed in terms of our infrastructure, or new infrastructure. Some of the communities don’t even have roads into the community. Some of them have other requests. We’ve got to look at them and prioritize them and see that they fit within our goals of connecting communities.

When we continue reviewing the list that we have, we’ll see if it fits the criteria in terms of future funding. For now, we’ll continue working with the Member on this issue.

Thank you, Mr.

Yakeleya. Oral

questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

I may be older but you’re obviously wiser, so I will try this again.

Laughter.

Considering the very tight rental market in Yellowknife at the moment and considering the rent increases that constituents are facing, I would like to ask the Minister whether or not there is anything in current legislation that limits the amount of a rent increase by a landlord.

Thank you, Ms.

Bisaro. The

honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.... Or Justice, I guess.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The rent has been an issue in the community. The community has addressed that with us, and we have met with the committees as well. There have been some requests that came in, so certainly, that is one of the areas that we are looking at.

With the current legislation we are working with, there are areas that we’re looking at where rents increase once per year, but they’ve got to be given three months’ notice. Those are in discussion, and we're working with our department on this specific area.

We are doing what we can to deal with those rent increases in the communities, specifically on those communities that have high rent. Mahsi.

I thank the Minister for his answer. I know that there is nothing in the current legislation that can limit a rent increase, except that there can only be one in any 12-month period.

I’d like to know whether or not the Minister can advise if the department, in previous years, has ever considered rent caps.

Mr. Speaker, a rent cap has been talked about in the past government, but at the same time, it is costly to initiate that process. So it has been talked about, but the department hasn’t pursued it because of high costs for our jurisdiction, the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.

That was, unfortunately, the answer I

expected. I know that rent caps are a very

controversial issue. The landlords don’t like them; tenants do like them. But it also creates a diversion in the marketplace, and I can understand why they’re not currently in place.

However, to my suggestion of an ombudsman, I think there needs to be some sort of appeal for tenants. I’d like to know if the Justice Department has considered creating an ombudsman’s office to

hear appeals from residents where no other avenue of appeal exists. Thank you.

We do take suggestions into consideration from Members. That’s one area that’s been brought to our attention in the past. And certainly, we will work with it, the suggestion that’s brought forward.

There needs to be ongoing consultation with the community, the renters, the tenants, and rental officers, and with our department and with the Members as well. This is one of the issues that’s been addressed to us, and we’re discussing it within our department. Mahsi.

Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t think I heard the Minister say that he’ll consider the idea of an ombudsman’s office, so I’ll repeat the question. Will the Minister agree to look into establishing an ombudsman’s office for the next fiscal year?

We’ll look into those options. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

The number of layoffs concerns myself, as well as a number of people in this House. Furthermore, it certainly has hit the radar of the union out there, with approximately 135 potential layoffs coming out there. I want to seek some clarity as we go forward in this process as to what’s happening, so I’ll have some questions directed to the Premier.

The Premier has announced 135

layoffs. As

I understand it, some people have left, due to separation, in the context that they’ve taken other jobs. There’s been some further paring down as other people have taken other opportunities. I want to know today: what’s the actual number we’re dealing with, as in potential layoffs? Could the Premier provide clarity on actual numbers that could be at risk at this time? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Hawkins. The

honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Mr.

Speaker, I’ll have to

redirect this to the Minister of Human Resources. He would have the most up-to-date information on this file. Thank you.

Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories presently has 4,753 full-time indeterminate employees and

1,051 casual employees. At this moment, we have 118 potentially affected employees. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, of the 118 potential employees being laid off, what is the Human Resources Minister doing to make sure that number gets pared down even further before this final decision? My fear is we’ll pass the budget, and then they’ll be shown the door.

Just for clarity, are we working out any deal with these folks? Have we pared it down? Have any packages been prepared? What is the situation, so that we get that number as low as possible? Thank you.

The Department of Human Resources and the home department of these 118 potentially affected employees, which is less than 2

per

cent of the whole Government of the

Northwest Territories’ workforce.... We work very closely with the potentially affected employees under our Staff Retention policy. And I emphasize “staff retention,” because it is our objective to keep as many of these potentially affected employees on the workforce.

Departmental HR staff and departmental management meet with those potentially affected employees that request a meeting. We work with them to make sure they understand the process and the options that are available to them. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in all due respect, I don’t see it as 2 per cent. I see it as 118 families, and that’s the way I see it.

My issue really is, out of this 118 that we’re talking about, how many are up for potential reassignment in other positions? That’s what I want to know. Ultimately, I want to know — and I would hope other Members on this side of the House want to know — how many people are we really talking about that will be ultimately impacted, once this process is jigged out and finalized?

It’s difficult to determine, because we have to take into consideration the individual needs or preferences of potentially affected employees.

We have set in place.... Through the Staff Retention policy, we make all the competitions that are coming forward available and known to the potentially affected employees.

We have received at least 50 résumés. The remainder, I assume, are waiting to see what transpires through the budget process. Our expectation is that potentially affected employees will probably have a better option. We are certainly encouraging our managers of the different departments to actively review the list on the Staff Retention policy so that we can, hopefully, find placements.