Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. As I said in my statement, there have been a number of changes in the rent scale over the years. In the past five years, I have seen a number of positive changes, but one change that my constituents and others throughout the territory are having challenges with is based on your income tax, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister: what kind of feedback has the corporation received on the rent scale, particularly after the changes made in 2015? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members already know that I did extend the housing survey. We have not gotten all the feedback from that survey yet. I am interested in seeing it. I have seen some issues come across my desk, though, regarding the rental scale and the deductions from the income tax.

One of the things I should note is that I know that it causes some seasonal employment difficulties, but, if you look at the areas, it ranges between $10,000 and $20,000 that a person can make extra, depending on their income, before they actually get increased rent, so that is significant. The other thing that is really notable is that, since we have been using the income tax to determine peoples' rent, we have noticed that quite a few hundred people actually have been reassessed their rent because of failure to report during seasonal occupations, so that is a concern that I wanted to bring forward, as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to ask the Minister: how can the corporation support the spirit of the rent scale, fair rent for all public housing tenants, for tenants like I have described whose income taxes don't show the full picture of their employment income?

One of the conditions within the new determining of rent scales is that people who have difference in income can go in monthly and provide that to their local housing organization. If they do that, they will be reassessed based on their monthly income. However, again, it is important to note that the income tax has been showing that not everyone has been reporting their income, and so that is also a concern for us.

We often see residents falling behind on their taxes and not filing. How does the corporation and its rent scale respond to households that don't have current income tax or tax information on file?

We are really trying to work with our tenants to actually file their income tax, especially for lower-income people. When people do not file their income tax, they are losing out on income, for example, the Child Tax Benefit, et cetera, and their tax return monies if they are lower-income, so it is something we are really trying to advocate for tenants, that it is in their best interests to actually file for their income tax.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, how much time would the department need once the survey is completed to actually make this change if that is what the people want? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated earlier the other day, the housing survey, once we get the results in, will be divided up. Some of them will be very easy fixes. Things like, for example, students being able to leave their communities without being penalized, people going for medical assistance and things, those are easy decisions.

Tougher ones, this one that might impact other departments, those ones will take a little bit longer. For example, if housing rent is contingent on them getting income support, then that is a cross-departmental issue, and so we will have to work cross-departmentally to find out answers to make things easier so that people can retain, maintain, or obtain housing.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I may have to wait until the Premier returns. My question is to the Premier on the Deline self-government file. Thank you.

Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. In my Member's statement today, I talked about two kinds of problems that stem from overprescribing medication. The first is that pharmacists sometimes make mistakes in dosage. What kind of government oversight exists to protect patients from this kind of a mistake? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know the department works very closely with the pharmacy association and others to ensure that prescriptions are being dispensed appropriately. For the detail, I don't have that at my fingertips, so I will take the question as notice and get back to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. The question has been taken as notice. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last September 1st we saw the first community-based self-government in Deline, the Deline Got'ine Government, and since the birth of this historic milestone, my question to the Premier is: to enhance and develop a model for others, what is this government doing since the signing of that agreement last September? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, along with the Member from Sahtu, was very pleased to be in Deline on September 1st to help celebrate the implementation of the Deline Final Self-Government Agreement, and since then our government has been working with the Deline Got'ine Government and the Government of Canada to fulfill this self-government aspirations of the Deline Got'ine Government as set out in their Final Self-Government Agreement.

Our government is committed to working in partnership with the Deline Got'ine Government to build capacity within our respective governments to improve program and service delivery to residences of the Deline district, and in the coming weeks, representatives from our government and the Deline Got'ine Government will be discussing an approach to formalizing the government-to-government relationships between our governments. Going forward with implementation we will be able to work with the other self-government communities in the Sahtu so that they can reach their final agreements and they can learn from what we did in Deline. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

To better develop a model on a cooperation action plan through a series of collaborations, for example, will the Premier commit to having this team meeting with the DGG Government team to develop this action plan as a start?

Recently, our government and the Deline Got'ine Government collaborated on the delivery of a lands administration course to the Deline Got'ine Government, and this is to improve the capacity of both of our governments to understand and manage the Land Administration Program. Also, through the Deline Self-Government Agreement Implementation Committee, we will collaborate on future initiatives that will support program and service delivery improvements in the Deline district. The representatives on this committee will also work so that we can pass on this information to the other communities in the Sahtu, and as a result we'll have an action plan and we'll also see more immediate progress on those negotiations as well.

Will the Premier commit to sending me a schedule on the implementation committee and their progress that was made and the future schedule so I can keep posted on the program delivery initiatives of both governments?

I'd be pleased to do that, and I'd like to advise the Member that the first Deline Implementation Committee meeting was held on January 12, 2017, here in Yellowknife, and going forward we'll advise him of the schedule and the progress that we're making.