This is page numbers 673-724 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 2nd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was thanks.

Topics

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll let Mr. Anderson answer that.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Anderson.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Anderson

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, the corporation has project officers in our regional centers. They manage the inspection services on all of our capital projects in all of the communities. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Anderson. Mr. O'Reilly.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So these project officers, they would be the ones that would be overseeing this work, so we would be expending part of our O and M resources to manage this RCMP housing construction and so on? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Mr. Anderson will take that, Mr. Chair.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Anderson.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Anderson

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have a program that we're putting out about just on the capital side of about $37 million, so our project officers are in the communities already doing projects on the social housing side, so this would be one extra project that they would be providing that support to as well. I guess the other point I would make is that our project officers are primarily in the regional centers, and so they're in the community too to support that process. Thank you.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Anderson. Mr. O'Reilly.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So these project officers are managing all of this work. I'm just trying to get a sense of what portion of that work would be this RCMP work, and I'm not asking for an exact figure. Is it one per cent? Five per cent? Fifty per cent? Just trying to get an understanding of what level of work is involved for those folks in managing this particular project. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Cochrane.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're projecting that the scope of work for the project managers will be very small. It would just be during the construction phase. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

June 15th, 2016

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Why I'm asking this reason or these questions is I'm concerned that, look, I think we all want to keep RCMP in the communities and we want to look after them and treat them well and so on, but we're devoting our scarce O and M funds, maybe even some capital funds, to building housing that perhaps the RCMP should be managing and doing themselves.

Is this taking away from our ability to provide housing for our own people in our own communities? That's the question I guess I have for the Minister. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to just explain to the Members that the NWT Housing Corporation has been in market housing for quite a number of time. We've been providing market housing to the smaller communities because they don't have the market community in their communities. So we've been providing housing for professionals such as social workers, nurses, etcetera, teachers, for decades. It's not like we're starting something new. This is something that we've done for a long time and we continue to do. In fact, we have 400 units within the NWT that we provide that service for currently, and again, the revenue that we make from these units will help us to address the declining CMHC funding that we know will be coming within the next 2036--28? 38? 38. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the answer from the Minister. It's helpful, but the fact is that we've got a limited pool of money to work with for housing for our own people. Now that has to be spread a little bit thinner because we're going to be putting in housing and managing that for the RCMP. I don't know why we're all of a sudden now providing housing for the RCMP, but I guess that was a decision from another Minister, but we've got a limited pool of money to work with. Is this taking away from our capacity to provide housing for our own residents? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, this will not take away our ability to provide housing for our residents. We've been doing market housing for about 15 years. We have a huge success rate within the communities. The community has asked us to keep it. Not only do they appreciate it, they require it in order to maintain services such as teachers, social workers, nurses, and now RCMP within our communities, they rely on the NWT Housing Corporation to provide those units. The cost of the RCMP housing actually will be--the operating and maintenance will be charged back to them and they will be paying market rent, so it is a revenue-based program that we're looking at. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Minister. Mr. O'Reilly.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Would the Minister then commit to providing information to the House about how much we're spending to build these homes, operate them, and what sort of revenues we're getting back? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister.