Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. I’ll allow the Minister to answer that question.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department certainly is very concerned at this time of the season, as I said, in the springtime and the fall time, in terms of our best ways and best solutions. I certainly look forward to Members’ comments and suggestions as to how we can close the window in terms of the mitigation of certain conditions we have. We certainly have those kinds of conditions in my own regions and we have very limited opportunity in terms of our winter road

seasons,

and these conditions sometimes are very

difficult to work with. However, we do have plans in place; we do have systems in place. I look forward to improving our communication awareness in terms of letting the public know these are conditions that could be coming to the roads in their area.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m sure glad the Minister picked a question out of that.

Laughter.

One of the other questions I had is: where is the contact point when incidents do happen? Is there one single window where constituents can phone? And how current is the web site as well?

The department offers a 1-800 number to all residents of the Northwest Territories, and I’ll be very happy to send a notification right over to the Member’s office for his constituents and all constituents of the Northwest Territories. We have regional operations, and the regional superintendents know there are contact numbers for the driving public. The department continues to look for ways to improve their communication. The web site, I believe, is updated on a daily basis by our staff, and sometimes, even, our staff does come in over the weekends when conditions like this warrant it. We certainly appreciate the patience of some of the travelling public when they have to drive through some of the conditions we have endured for the last couple of months.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. These incidents happened on the weekend. Is there a way for the department to update the information on a weekend? That would really, really help the travelling public.

Mr. Speaker, I will check with my officials to ensure that with the incidences that do happen after hours and on the weekends, and sometimes in the wee early hours of the morning, there is a contact number for the travelling public to get hold of us if they have concerns on the highways, on our ferries, within our infrastructure. I will make sure this is directed to our officials and get back to the Member as soon as possible.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

The honourable Minister responsible for the homeless, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, there’s a distinction we have to make as we talk about the homeless. Or are we talking about individuals who may be hard to house? They are, I believe, in almost every community, including the one I come from. They have had every opportunity. Their families don’t want them staying in their houses. They have addictions issues. They have lifestyle issues. So if there is an issue of not enough houses for people, there are waiting lists for public housing.

We do struggle with the issue of hard-to-house, where they have often had programs, and they have often left the houses in considerable disrepair. So yes, it is an issue we struggle with. There is a program for homelessness, so there is funding over winter to ensure there is, hopefully, a warm place for every homeless person if they need it. But it is an issue on which there is no final solution that we have come up with yet.

Just for the Minister. Let’s just pick one and we could start somewhere. These issues are big in the smaller communities. Once you walk out of this building, you see it in downtown Yellowknife. We have to start somewhere. If the Minister and government are willing to work with us, as the Regular Members, to do something about it, I really urge them to.

Mr. Speaker, clearly we are interested in working with the committees and communities. In Yellowknife we’ve just opened Bailey House. We have the Salvation Army. We have the Side Door over here for youth. In some communities there are places for those who are hard to house to stay. But clearly, it is an issue, and we are willing to work with our Members.

What has the department tapped into from federal government monies on homelessness?

Mr. Speaker, there was some funding from the federal government that helped, in fact, build structures like Bailey House. It helped us put some money into homeless initiatives in small communities to help cover off those that are needed when it is cold and freezing outside. So we have put what money we have been able to get to use.

Unfortunately, what tends to happen when there is a federal announcement…. It is done on a per capita basis, and the amount of money that actually comes to the Northwest Territories is very small.

Final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just a question on that, Mr. Minister. In the smaller communities, families that are hard to house, or homeless, become a burden to family members with houses and to grandparents. So basically, we take care of our own. We try to. Will he help them and how?

Mr. Speaker, I’d be very interested to sit down with the Member if he wants to talk about his particular communities in Nunakput. As well, the Housing Corporation would be interested to sit down, along with the other departments that have a role to play here through the business-planning process, to take a look at what’s currently there. There is a small community homelessness fund. There’s other funding in the larger centres.

Clearly, it is an issue, and yes, it involves families; it involves communities. The government can be of assistance. It also involves individuals who, at the end of the day for whatever reason, make choices they don’t often want to change from. We have to consider all those factors. We’re interested to sit down and talk about that.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to follow up on my spontaneous Member’s statement regarding the Minister of ITI’s announcement about the Minister’s Advisory Panel on the Economy. Does the Minister agree that a strong and sustainable economy is one that actually includes social and environmental considerations best represented by members of those communities?

The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

I do agree.

Is it the intent of the Minister’s Advisory Panel on the Economy to ensure that it benefits all residents?