Just so I understand: if an employee was coming up for retirement and wanted to take the two-day pre-retirement course and there was a fee of $400, the territorial government might or might not pay for that, depending on the approval of the manager of that employee. Is that correct?

Mr. Speaker, generally, we encourage employees to take the pre-retirement training earlier in their careers rather than a year or six months before the time to retire, and generally, we pay for one pre-retirement training course per employee.

Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Speaker, in information I was able to get from the Department of Human Resources, they said there’s currently a backlog of requests for personalized pension counselling. I’d like to know what the nature of that backlog is and why, for a department with 125 employees in headquarters, there would be a backlog.

I guess there are a number of reasons for the backlog. Our government workforce is aging. I think 40 per cent of our employees are eligible to retire within the next ten years, so I would expect that is the reason for the backlog.

The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has recently increased our income security program to meet the needs of the community — the demands of the high cost of living in the community: the clothing, the food, the shelter. So we did increase in that area. That is one area that has been highlighted from our previous visit to the communities. So that has been initiated.

That was quick, Mr. Minister. Thank you.

Would the government, perhaps the Minister of ECE, consider setting the task force to study homelessness in the smaller communities?

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. We are going into a different line of questioning here. I will allow the Minister to answer. Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. To deal with the isolated small communities, those particularly without road access, we do provide funding for shelters or programming, and certainly my department can work with the Member to highlight what we have done, what we have currently in the program. I can certainly assist with those communities based on their needs to deal with homelessness. So we do have programs available for that.

Supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have none at this time.

Mr.

Speaker, in regard to my

Member’s statement in the area of people with disabilities that live in small communities and the challenges that they face — more importantly, the lack of houses in our communities to accommodate people with disabilities — this government has taken steps to look at barrier-free houses. I know that the Member for Yellowknife mentioned that there were the eight units built here in Yellowknife. In regard to barrier-free houses, we have built houses in seniors’ housing which are barrier-free. We have built seniors’ facilities which are barrier-free. We have the expertise in-house to do that, yet we seem to have a problem accommodating people in small communities, to be able to facilitate them with the adequate housing that they need which are barrier-free.

I have been in contact with the Minister on a particular matter in Fort McPherson, about an individual and his son who is in a wheelchair. I’d like to ask the Minister: exactly what is his department doing to look at barrier-free houses in small communities to accommodate people with disabilities?

The Minister Responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, we intend to follow the same process in all communities where there is an identified need. As we are working with communities to look at the housing configuration as to what is most appropriate, I do agree with the government that there are some things that should probably become standard design for all houses — things like three-foot doorways and access for an event, if something happens if an individual is in the house. So the Member has raised some good points.

Mr.

Speaker, as government our

public infrastructure is aging; we have to replace it. I think this is probably a good time to build that concept into reality, build it into our business plan, build it into our housing strategies and initiatives. I’d like to ask the Minister: exactly how soon can we see some of these initiatives put in place, knowing we are expending money already to basically do upgrades on public housing units by way of retrofits? Will you consider looking at those retrofit dollars, at those facilities for renovating, to see if we can implement some of these projects in communities where you have individuals who are disabled, in a wheelchair, or perhaps have mobility problems that we need to accommodate?

Once we conclude this budget process, we’re going to be moving almost immediately into the business planning process for 2009–2010. We’d be willing and interested to come forward in the business plan. We could discuss those issues as well, sit down with the Chair of the Social Programs and the other Members to look at how we can make changes to the program delivery to better reflect the needs and issues raised by the Member.

Mr. Speaker, also in my Member’s statement I took issue with regard to the residency clause that’s in place for individuals who are born and raised in their home communities. They’re band members in those communities, but if they leave the community for less than a year and come back to the home community, they have to wait three months before they can get into public housing. Yet there are vacancies.

I’d like to ask the Minister: is there a possibility that the Minister or the department can make special exemptions for people who are disabled, people who have already been in public housing within that year when there are vacancies on the board so that they don’t have to wait three months before they can get public housing? I’d like to ask the Minister if he’s able to do anything in that area.

Mr. Speaker, the Member has raised another good point. In the case that he’s referring to, there has been contact made with the community, and I believe the three-month residency has been waived in that particular instance.

Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Most jurisdictions in Canada, the provinces and whatnot, have a housing strategy. Part of that strategy looks at seniors’ housing, family homes, retirement homes, disabled housing, homeless shelters. They look at every type of housing that’s out there. So I’d like to ask the Minister: would his department take on a strategic plan to look at the holistic process for housing from the time you’re born until the time you pass away — 80 to 90 years of housing that people go through? I think it’s about time this government took on that initiative. I think we won’t have these problems in our communities with housing for the disabled, accommodating people with disabilities or mobility problems such as aging.

The Housing

Corporation just released their Framework for Action to lay out the plan for the next number of years. It’s been to the appropriate committee. We’ve received feedback with some suggestions that we’re going to look at. We’re going to look at improving that document as we move forward. There will be the business planning process coming

up as well that will allow us to further refine that document.

The Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Robert McLeod.