Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just in regards to the infrastructure that the communities that I represent that are I wouldn’t say being properly...Like with my Member’s statement today with the upkeep of the buildings that the government we do own of the schools, and the fire department and all the other buildings that we do have, that the upkeep is not being done. I know the monies that we are getting...Due to the short shipping season per year into the communities, this year we were really late due to the barges leaving from the port of Tuk late this year. A lot of stuff didn’t make it. One of the colleagues said today that stuff was being bumped. The cost of living in the communities is high. During these times that we are going through with the economy, we have to try to flow through the contracts quicker into the communities. It could be little things. It could be changing windows for local contractors which we need in Ulukhaktok, by the way. The black mould issues in the communities are really bad. People are getting sick, asthma, elders, it is not healthy. People are just trying to be able to make their way with what we have been given with ECE. There are no contracts in the small communities. It makes it tough to live there.
Under the New Deal that was from the government with all the infrastructure in O and M to the communities, it has to be topped off, because, like you said, buildings are aging and the cost to run is greater. Some communities are paying $20,000 a month in fuel to heat some buildings, which is not right. We could be utilizing that money somewhere else.
In the housing units that are needed in the small communities, we get housing units being built in the
Territory. That small community is in need. We have young families growing up with nowhere to go. We have overcrowding. That is where everything escalates, the black mould and everything.
For Paulatuk and Sachs Harbour, within the next two years, I am really hoping that our government sees the need for a four-plex in each community, if not more, just because of the shortage of housing. Elders facilities in Tuk which we have and are grateful for. We just need a front door. So we have to send one of our elders out of the community -- he was in a wheelchair -- because he couldn’t open the door. It is a safety issue. We wanted electric doors so he could go out of the building on his own. So he is back in Aklavik now under long-term care.
Elders facility in Ulukhaktok which I have been pushing for, I brought this up. We had a motion in the House to try to push it forward. People in the communities just want to take care of our own. These are small things I am bringing up right now, but they are big to us.
Back to our schools, we need an extension in Tuk because of the students there, and we had a motion in the House last year that I have been trying to work with. I am hoping to get the Minister to come up to deal with it and just the proper upkeep.
One thing we all have to realize, people are struggling outside this building, in the communities and in Yellowknife. We have people on the streets. We have to try to help them a little bit more in regards to what we have been doing, which is flow through the government. Right now we are doing a good job with all the money that is being spent in the communities which we are really thankful for, but we need just a little bit more to make our ends meet and to help our people. Thank you.