Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question is that it seems that, you know, there is a waiting game at this point in terms of when the reports will be received and then there is a contemplation of the next steps, and it seems very clear that, of course, within the framework of the federal government, including the GNWT or the Northwest Territories, it is almost that we have to wait for the lead of the federal government. One of the points that have been made by the parties is that there has to be a new mandate from the federal government including the GNWT. Is that the case, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is our expectation that the Ministerial Special Representatives Report will look at all of the challenges and issues that have prevented us from getting an agreement by now. So if that is part of the problem, I expect the ministerial special representatives will identify it and make some recommendations. Certainly before we went with the ministerial representative, we certainly felt or indicated that perhaps part of the problem was the mandates that we were working with.

So I am looking forward to receiving the report of ministerial special representatives, and I fully expect that they will make some reference to the mandate issues as well.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a follow-up to my Member's statement. I have a few questions for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. I would like to ask the Minister: will the Housing Corporation reclassify the modular units in Aklavik to add to the community's public housing stock and get more people into homes of their own? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As part of the program renewal that we are actually right in the process of doing now, all available housing units within every community are going to be looked at, and if they are not being utilized for the purpose that they were put there, they will be repurposed into a new use. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That is good to hear. The housing survey closed on February 27th. What are the Minister's next steps to take action on what they have learned?

I am really excited that the housing survey is now finished, in all honesty. It means that we can get down to work. The department right at this moment, the corporation is compiling all the results and putting them into categories. For example, some are around home ownership, some are around homelessness, et cetera. They are also categorizing it by community. After that process, we will be going through them one by one and looking at, like I say, every program and every policy that we provide and revitalizing them to meet the needs of the community, to meet the needs of residents within the Northwest Territories.

Can the Minister provide a status update on the project that is introducing a singles four-plex into Aklavik?

I am sorry. At this moment, I do not know the answer of what the status is on the four-plex. I will have to get back to the MLA on that.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is it safe to say that the project is on schedule? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As stated before, I do not know exactly what the status is today, so I will have to get back to the MLA on what the status is today.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Masi. Minister of NWT Housing Corporation.

Mr. Speaker, no, to my knowledge we have not done an evaluation of exactly what the cost savings are to do aging-in-place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Can the Minister tell me if there have been any discussions with the possible impacts on the need for a long-term care as a result of the upcoming work that would be anticipated by the Housing Corporation on the aging-in-place project?

The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is working in close partnership with the Department of Health and Social Services. The goal is to help people to be able to age in place within their communities as long as possible; however, we do recognize that at some point some people do need additional support that they may have to leave their communities and at that point they may have to go into long-term care.

Is the Minister of the Housing Corporation able to advise the House if there have been any standards developed for the renovation of the units where we hope the elders would age in place?

The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation abides by all the standards, building codes, et cetera within Canada. In fact, our standards are actually higher than some provinces and territories. The reality is, though, that each individual is different and so what determines what one person who is aging in their own home needs will not be the same right across the board. So we look at each case on an individual basis to determine what supports they need in there.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister if there has been any sort of evaluation on where the first projects will be rolling out on the aging-in-place. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation has been working for many years, actually providing supports to seniors, to people so that they can stay in their communities. So the additional $500,000 that we put into the budget for this coming year is not a new program. It is new monies that we allocated to it, but we have been working for many years to provide supports to seniors so that they can age in place, putting mobility supports in. We have not done a formal evaluation, but there are a lot of evaluations out there that show that supports for seniors, rails, ramps, et cetera, are good, are really actually quite beneficial to keeping seniors in their homes.