Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e there is a huge issue with land tax and land lease arrears. The problem is that taxes and leases are levied on people while the common understanding from the people is that all charges for land and taxes on their properties will be sorted out after the land, resources and government negotiations with Akaitcho are completed. Right now Akaitcho is engaged with the federal government and territorial government in negotiations.

However, invoices are being sent out to people in both communities and now some of the invoices are in the $20,000 to $30,000 range, most of which is interest. It appears as though the Department of Finance is not considering the understanding of the Tu Nedhe residents and their negotiations with the governments.

At this time many of my constituents are beginning to panic under such large bills and the fear that if they wait until the negotiations are complete, they will either lose their properties through tax sales or accumulate bills that are well beyond their ability to pay. Some constituents are now at that stage.

I’ve spoken many times in this House about low employment rates, poor housing and the high cost of living in Tu Nedhe. All of those are factors that contribute to the problem that I present today.

With limited incomes, Tu Nedhe constituents are asked to deal with their own housing repairs,

because up until now land tax arrears made them ineligible for any sort of funding from the NWT Housing Corporation to fix their house. Also, the people in Tu Nedhe live in communities where there is a very high cost of living. Food is expensive, and gasoline needed to harvest traditional foods is also very expensive.

I don’t have to draw a full picture here. I think the government can see when there are limited income opportunities and high cost of living, there is nothing left over to pay property taxes. The people in Tu Nedhe are left with an option: you pay your land taxes or feed your kids. I know what most people will do.

Later today I will have questions for the Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Rental arrears in public housing is a chronic problem for the Government of the Northwest Territories. When we reviewed the main estimates earlier this year, average rent collection was only 76 percent at a debt balance of $13 million outstanding. Collection needs to be at 90 percent in order to maintain the LHO, and that’s from the Minister as well as the department, Mr. Speaker. Clearly, we need action on these rental collections and certainly the arrears. However, if you think that’s bad, Mr. Speaker, well, mortgage collection rates are at 40 percent, so accountability clearly isn’t a concern for anyone over there.

We constantly hear the same response from the Housing Corporation on this issue: the Corporation continues its efforts to increase rent collection or mortgage collection; the Corporation works closely with the clients and LHOs; we promise that the situation is improving. But, Mr. Speaker, rent collection is still well below 90 percent in many LHOs; we’re still not hearing about a real action plan to increase rent collection. And speaking of action plans, the Auditor General recommended that the Housing Corporation jointly develop an action plan with each LHO that has difficulty collecting 90 percent of its rent. That was in 2008. Again, accountability seems to be missing here, Mr. Speaker.

The Housing Corporation has tried to make payment simple for clients. Yes, many housing tenants are good tenants and they do pay their rent on time. But 76 percent is not enough to sustain the Housing Program, Mr. Speaker. Why does that seem to bother people in the sense that they can’t

get past that? Why does the department of housing not want to address it?

We need a plan to target the real cause of these non-payment issues, Mr. Speaker, the inconvenient truths under the shadow or dark cloud of public housing.

Mr. Speaker, in my view, there has been very little done to address these problems of arrears in the rent and mortgages over this term other than rhetoric and a little re-jigging of the numbers, so I’m doubtful at this point if we will ever see much accomplished or anything real truly realized.

Mr. Speaker, if the department truly is listening and wants to advance this issue to some useful practical solution, then what about equalizing payments over a whole year? Mr. Speaker, we could term the payments over a full year reflective of what true annual income is, and then we could work with people who get part-time jobs so they don’t get the shocks of high rent and then the re-jigging. It would save a lot of time for the LHO and it would save a lot of stress from those clients in subsidized housing.

Mr. Speaker, later today I will have questions for the Minister responsible for Housing and hopefully we will find a better solution for this particular problem. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Approximately one month ago our federal counterparts in Parliament, for the first time since the federal election on May 2, 2011, the first order of business of the new government will be to pass the budget. Mr. Speaker, hopefully, our $150 million for the all-season road from Tuk to Inuvik will be included.

This Assembly and this government should do whatever it can to make this happen. Northerners working together. I believe we have one chance at this to make sure the budget includes the Tuk-Inuvik highway.

Mr. Speaker, this government has to deliver projects, not just to let it sit on the books with the future promises. Mr. Speaker, this government has promised the northern region will get their fair share of capital infrastructure and spending, but recent spending shows the opposite. Projects like the Deh Cho Bridge are draining a lot of the resources and the funding time, while projects seem to be on the back burner.

Mr. Speaker, several months ago the federal government tabled a budget that included $150

million for the road from Tuk to Inuvik, finally linking Canada coast to coast to coast. As mentioned last week, this is a result of many, many years of lobbying and work from the community governments, my office and other organizations. Unfortunately, this commitment was then questioned when the country went to the federal election. If this project does not happen, the economic conditions in the northern region will be severely hampered in years to come. This will definitely be a huge shot in the arm.

Many regions, including Nunakput, are enjoying a robust economy from the diamond exploration and the huge infrastructure spending. Mr. Speaker, this project would not only generate huge employment for the region but would also provide infrastructure to industry. This project would also seriously reduce the high cost of living in the small communities in Nunakput. We are in a very delicate situation and a limited window of opportunity. This government must not allow this commitment to fall through the cracks, especially near the end of this government. Mr. Speaker, I believe that this year will be a year where the northern region will get their fair share.

Mr. Speaker, thank you. I will have questions for the Minister of Transportation at the appropriate time.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to use my Member’s statement to comment on an article from the Globe and Mail regarding health care that recently caught my eye. In Canada it’s generally assumed that universal health care -- and that means timely access to affordable health services -- improves the health of socially disadvantaged groups. Research performed at the Institute for Clinical Evaluation Services tested that assumption, but as published in the journal Health Affairs, the results of the study contradicts the assumption.

The research team found that people with low income and/or low levels of education suffered from higher than normal incidences of cardiovascular disease. It’s no surprise and a well-known situation. The researchers tried to determine if universal access to health services would alter that finding. The research showed that the poor use more health services than the wealthy, but that does not mean they get better health outcomes. To quote the Globe author: The poor visit physicians and hospitals more often, not because it’s free, but because they are sicker. All of us, whether rich or poor, use health care services when we have to,

when we are sick. Few of us use health care services in a preventive way.

The message in the research finding is this: universal health care does not get us healthy and keep us healthy. Medicare is not the silver bullet to ensure a healthy population. What we need are tools to get us healthy in the first place, to attack the causes of poor health.

In Canada we spend about 40 percent of our budgets on health care, about 25 percent on education and only 15 percent on social welfare programs. By comparison, European countries spend twice as much as we do on social welfare programs, and the result of that spending is that Europeans spend less on health and have better health outcomes.

We need to put greater effort into tackling poverty, low education levels, poor and inequitable housing. Improvements in these areas will create healthier environments and, by default, healthier citizens. As we embark on the development of an Anti-Poverty Strategy or framework, Mr. Speaker, we would be well advised to consider these findings. Throwing more money at health is not the answer. Universal health care is not the answer. Until we improve living conditions for the socially disadvantaged in our territory, we cannot hope for universally healthy residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We will have a homeless problem in the Sahtu very soon if we don’t deal with the ever-increasing eviction notices in our communities. We must, as a basic human right, house our people. It’s the only right thing to do, Mr. Speaker, to keep our children and people from being thrown out and then wait for a year to see if they are welcome back into a house, a government house.

Now, the Minister states that the Housing Corporation is not intent on evicting. However, it is the last resort to collect money from people for staying in housing in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, how did we allow Housing to let arrears get so high? Why did we not go to the tenants and talk? I mean, talk and then follow up on a weekly basis to encourage and to support our people to assume the responsibility of debt payment.

We need to walk with our people on this very serious housing problem. It may even mean holding their hands and doing whatever it takes to let people know that these houses are theirs today.

Mr. Speaker, some of our units are old, some have mould issues, some have broken windows and doors. Other units are well kept and people are very proud to have a house, and we need to acknowledge the ones who pay on time or make every effort to keep up with the rest of their payments. We also have a mix of housing versions by our people such as housing is a treaty right or how did the promise of paying $2 a month for a house get to almost $1,800 for a client. Where did the government change its promise? We’re waiting to hear when that decision was made.

Mr. Speaker, we have so many houses boarded up, we have so many people on eviction notices, we have children who will not have a home. Mr. Speaker, we live in a rich territory, yet people will be living, and are living, in warehouses. Now we also have the highest core needs in the North, according to the 2009 NWT Housing Survey.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my Member’s statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Mr. Speaker, we need to fix our own house. Let’s start with the foundation and location, move them to the communities, build it up from there. It works.

Mr. Speaker, housing is a government responsibility. We’re all in this together. We need solutions like a tenants relationship officer, solutions like working off the arrears, solutions like garnisheeing a percentage of their wages, or volunteering in the community with coaching or working with the elders. It may not fit the government policy, but, hey, it’s the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, we need the attention of this government today; not tomorrow, next week or in the new government. We can wipe off the arrears and at the same time acknowledge those who’ve paid rent faithfully since 1972, but we need the government to listen. Will you listen to us?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member from Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to get a message back to the people of Inuvik Boot Lake, my constituency, to inform them that I will not be putting my name forward in the next general election.

After much thought about the future and the work that I’ve done with the people of Inuvik, I feel it is time to let some younger, more energetic folks take a look at representing the fine community of Inuvik

and the constituency of Inuvik Boot Lake. So I want to inform them that I will not be putting my name in, and wish the best for the future Assemblies of the Northwest Territories.

I’m sure I will at some point, some place, still be poking and prodding the Government of the Northwest Territories to make the right decisions and look towards our future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure today to recognize in the gallery a distinguished elder from Fort Smith, Bea Campbell, and president of the NWT Seniors’ Society; Esther Braden, a charter member of the NWT Seniors’ Society; Yvonne Quick, program coordinator, NWT Seniors’ Society; Merlyn Williams, director for YK Seniors’ Society who sits on the NWT Seniors’ Society board; Barb Hood, executive director, NWT Seniors’ Society: Lorraine Phaneuf, executive director and co-chair of the Coalition Against Family Violence; Annemieke Mulders, Status of Women Council of the NWT; Bob Stevens, Lutra Associates in support of the NWT Seniors’ Society. Thank you and welcome to the Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a constituent of the Great Slave riding, Mr. Merlyn Williams. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a couple of residents of Weledeh: Barb Hood and Bob Stevens.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Yvonne Quick, a long-time promoter of tourism and outfitter in the Northwest Territories, and Bob Stevens, hardworking defenseman with Old Blasters Old-timers Hockey League.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Although recognized very nicely by Minister Miltenberger, I,

too, wish to recognize Lorraine Phaneuf, executive director of the NWT Status of Women Council. As well, I’d like to recognize a very distinguished elder in our community and a resident of Yellowknife Centre, Mrs. Esther Braden. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.