This is page numbers 4103 - 4182 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd 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 going.

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Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement I talked about the backlog at the NWT Rental Office, and I am not the only one of my honourable friends who has brought this up. The Minister has had plenty of time to look at this problem and to find solutions. I would like to ask the Minister if he has taken responsibility for this backlog, and what solutions he has offered to fix this problem. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Justice.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am aware of this issue. In fact, it has been raised in this House previously, and, in response to a question by the MLA from Yellowknife Centre, we sent some information out, and perhaps I could relay some of the information contained in the letter to the House.

Between April 1, 2017, and January 31, 2018, there were 353 applications filed with the rental office. As of February 21, 2018, 182 of those had been heard, and of those, 57 per cent were heard within three months of the application filing date, 30 per cent were heard within four months of the application filing date, and of the 12 per cent that were heard beyond the four months after the application filing date, some of those within the 30 per cent category represent files that were adjourned or postponed either because of service of document problems or one of the parties requested an adjournment.

We are well aware of the problem. Members will recall that there was an issue where there was a reduction of one rental officer, resulting from the retirement of a long-standing rental officer in 2016. There was some difficulty in replacing this person. In fact, what we did was we have entered into a contract to add a part-time rental officer to the office. We are hoping that wait times will be reduced. We will continue to monitor the situation.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

The Minister knows as well as I do that it ought to be 60 days, period. The number of caseloads isn't going to be reduced in the foreseeable future. The backlog is only adding more. Clearly, this new position isn't enough. Can the Minister commit to increasing the employees to the rental officer, or at least developing a proposal for the business plans to bring more resources into that office, more human resources into that office?

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

We will continue to monitor the backdate, the backlog in the rental office and, if necessary, will look at adding additional people. I think we want to look at how things go over the next few months. I will get an update of the figures that I have provided to the House. If there appears to be a worsening of the problem, obviously, we would have to look at other alternatives.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

While the Minister continues to survey the results, my constituents are losing thousands of dollars by this backlog. If he is not willing to bring forward more resources, what other things can he do to reduce the waiting times at the rental office? What kind of policy or directives can he apply to make this problem resolve itself?

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

As mentioned earlier, we do recognize this as a problem. We have taken a number of steps, including increasing the number of hearings via three-way teleconference and scheduling face-to-face hearings outside Yellowknife more promptly. We are attempting to streamline the office and become more efficient and give people a shorter time in which their matters can be resolved. We do recognize this is an important issue.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when examining the cases that have gone in front of the rental officer, there are many that seem to be a result of the lack of willingness of the parties to work it out on their own and some misunderstanding of what the rental officer can do. I would suggest to the Minister, because I am not all about criticism and would like to give him some solutions today, that perhaps he commit some resources to educating potential landlords and tenants of their responsibilities and rights under the Residential Tenancies Act. Is he willing to put forward some education like that so we can get rid of frivolous cases that are jamming up the system? Thank you.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

I doubt whether the parties involved in those cases regard them as frivolous, but the rental office does offer public education materials. When appropriate, landlords and tenants are encouraged to resolve matters outside the formal application process. However, it has to be said that not all individuals are prepared to be flexible. Many want their day in court. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions for the Minister of Justice. During our last sitting, the Minister stated that the corrections service has established a committee to examine the feasibility of implementing a therapeutic community model to treat inmates at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre.

The therapeutic community model considers substance abuse as a symptom of much broader problems in a residential setting and uses holistic treatment approaches that have an impact on every aspect of a resident's life. This represents a substantial shift in our approach to corrections. In fact, the Minister has stated that the department is currently in the final stages of curriculum development for the pre-treatment healing addictions program to be facilitated out of SMCC.

I would like to follow up with the Minister, because this is, like I said, a substantial shift and hasn't gotten much attention. Part of this therapeutic model relies heavily on case management. I would like to ask the Minster: since case management is essential to the success of this model, will new staff be hired to ensure appropriate case management? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Justice.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think those of us who did have the opportunity to go to see the program as it was working in British Columbia were very impressed with the program. Clearly, should we go ahead with this; it would represent a significant change in the way in which we are doing business.

To fully incorporate such a therapeutic model at SMCC, a staffing base would be required to further support the offenders' recovery and growth. They currently have the staffing and resources required to support this model, that is very good news, including management as well as unit case management and program staff. Clearly, training in the philosophy and approach exemplified by Guthrie House would be required for a therapeutic community to be fully implemented in the Northwest Territories.

The news is encouraging. We were very impressed with the Guthrie House model and are thinking about having such a model at SMCC. Thank you.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

I was more encouraged last time I asked the Minister about this, because it sounded like they were moving ahead with this. Now, I hear a lot of "maybe we will do this." I would like some clarification: are concrete steps being taken so that the department can move forward with this therapeutic model at SMCC?

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

We are currently looking at the possibility of transitioning the SMCC in Hay River to a therapeutic community model. We are spending time on this. Certainly, as I said before, we were all impressed when we went to Guthrie House. I think we should move ahead with our review to ascertain whether we can replicate that model in the Northwest Territories, because clearly, we have to start doing business in a different way.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Again, I heard "possibility" in there. I was under the impression, or maybe it was just hopeful thinking, wishful thinking, that the department was moving forward with this. The Minister mentioned a review. Can I have some sort of timeline of when this review will be complete and when he can give a definitive answer of whether or not this transition is going to take place?

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

I don't think I can provide a timeline and a definitive answer at this time, but we will check with the department and get back to the Member opposite.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The clock is ticking. We don't have that much time. They say, at the end of the Assembly, the departments are just waiting out the Ministers. I would like to see the Minister get moving on this. Will he commit to getting me a timeline and some information on the work that has been done so that I can ensure that is shared with committee? Then we can hopefully press to move this forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Louis Sebert

Louis Sebert Thebacha

I certainly would be pleased to provide the Member opposite with an overview of the work we have done to this point. Hopefully, I can also provide some timelines. I think it is a very appropriate question. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am encouraged by the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation's statement earlier. Sharing information with planning of this type is very essential. We all know the national strategy holds a variety of programs and resources. My question is: will the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation provide dates available for an information sharing and development leadership meeting in one of the Sahtu's five communities? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At the moment, I can't provide exact dates. Recently, I went on a tour through the Deh Cho and made sure that, after listening to the constituents and listening to community members, we contacted our regional office to make sure we had our program coordinators go into the community, update people on programs, do inspections that needed inspections done, and give that direction to the regional offices to make sure they can go into the communities and talk about program services that are available to the residents in terms of partnerships and looking at development.

As I mentioned earlier, we are going to be doing community housing plans, so every community in the NWT is going to have a community housing plan which, at the end, will help us when we do our capital planning strategy. However, I will be willing to sit down with the Member and talk about going into one or a couple of his communities to do something like this. I know, back in December, our staff did go into, I believe, Fort Good Hope or one of the communities and gave an information session as well as just listened to what the residents had to say, but I am willing to sit down with the Member to coordinate something like this.