This is page numbers 4831 - 4856 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 housing. View the webstream of the day's session.

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, the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation spoke about the sometimes challenging circumstances with limited resources that the Corporation operates under. I have a solution for the Minister. That is to let the private sector come in and help unburden some of those resources for the people who don't really need them. In many communities, GNWT employees are being given Housing Corporation-owned property. Will the Minister agree to enter into market lease agreements for 50 percent of private market inventory owned by the GNWT Housing Corporation? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Members know, and when we go and visit our constituents, sometimes one of our biggest issues is finding housing for our nurses, RCMP, teachers, and we want to try to address that. The Housing Corporation typically is the sole housing provider in some of our rural and remote communities. Sometimes, our developers have a hard time doing business or building houses. At the same time, we don't want to be disrupting the market unit. We have tried in some communities and we have had some contractors bring concerns.

One thing that I can tell the Member, as the Members know, I did make an announcement here in the House on that $60 million carve-out fund of the co-investment fund. I would encourage private developers to reach out to our office and work together to see how we can provide affordable housing throughout the Northwest Territories. That fund is going to be a game changer in the Northwest Territories during the life of this government. We are trying to get that information out and work, whether it is a private industry or some of our Indigenous governments, as well.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

So, no. I think what I am hearing is that there is this new funding made available, that there is an opportunity for co-investment, but what does that really mean to people who want to get into market rent, for people who want to build equity through their properties to potentially resell them, potentially rent them out and turn it into a business opportunity? Is that something that this fund will facilitate?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

As I mentioned in my Minister's statement, as well, we are looking at doing a needs assessment with all of our communities and community housing plans. We would also encourage the private sector to invest in affordable housing. We do have the Community Support Initiative that we can work with, whether it is Indigenous governments or private industry. The Co-Investment Fund is another opportunity that we can work on addressing these issues. I encourage the private industry to reach out to us at the NWT Housing Corporation to have those discussions. Obviously, if we can get other partnerships and stakeholders to help us address our housing needs across the Northwest Territories, we are more than welcome to have those discussions.

Kieron Testart

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Before anyone assumes that this is a Yellowknife-based issue, it is not. The Norman Wells Chamber of Commerce has published a letter that is asking for the GNWT to allow fair market rent to be established by the market supply and demand and for the GNWT to base its programs around that through the Housing Corporation. Is that something the Minister is willing to do in the community of Norman Wells and in other regional centres?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

I will just take, for example, the partnership that we have with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. That is a great partnership that we have developed with them. It is a good opportunity, as well, to share with other Indigenous governments as well as private industry on how we can work to address whether it is market rent or public housing needs, transitional housing.

This co-investment fund, like I have mentioned, we did get a $60 million carve-out on that. It was application-based and very flexible on how we spend those dollars. We want to make sure that information gets out to anybody, any of our stakeholders and our partners that we are working with. I also agree and understand about the regional centres and how we can address those through the community housing plans, but also working with stakeholders to help us address our housing needs.

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, there is a difference between self-governments, community governments, and private sector, and that is really what is at the heart of this. You know, it is not about building the units. It is about allowing the private sector to offer that market space and to provide a private sector solution. I am hearing more of a top-down approach, more of a maintenance of the government monopoly. Let's let the private sector come in here. Will the Minister at least reach out to the NWT Chamber of Commerce, to the various chambers of commerce and businesses that wish to be involved in this enterprise, and work with them to develop a solution that works for our private sector here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Yes, we are already doing that. We have reached out to private sector. We are having partnerships. We are doing some pilot projects across the Northwest Territories. We are learning from some past decisions that were made and have taken a better approach to ensure that our investments, the dollars that we are spending, is going as far as they can and meeting the needs of our housing situations throughout the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I made a statement on my constituents raising their concerns on speeding on the Deh Cho Bridge and, of course, we are all concerned about public safety. My questions are to the Minister of Infrastructure: can the Minister explain the role of departmental motor vehicle officers in enforcement of traffic laws, including speeding laws? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The division that looks after the highways, and highway patrol in particular, has a couple of roles that they follow. One of them is to follow the weight restrictions of the highway and particularly around the heavy truck traffic and how that has to be patrolled and followed by the heavy truck traffic in the Northwest Territories. They also do patrols out on the highway systems in the Northwest Territories. They have authority to stop heavy truck traffic, but they do not have the authority to stop civilian traffic for speeding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Mr. Speaker, how do the department and its motor vehicle officers work with the RCMP to maximize enforcement coverage?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

This question has been raised in the House a number of times, especially around the Ingraham Trail. As we have stated in this House, I have said that we worked with all people. Let's use the Ingraham Trail for an example. We work with the City of Yellowknife, the RCMP, and the highway patrol, and the residents on the Ingraham Trail. In this situation that the Member is talking about here today around the Deh Cho Bridge, we would be working and coordinating particularly with the RCMP on what they can do to help increase patrols around the Deh Cho Bridge and what additional resources they can do to enforce the speeding on the Deh Cho Bridge. We would probably also reach out to the community, as well.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Obviously, everybody is concerned about public safety, especially at this time of the year. It is winter. We have lots of traffic, a lot of big semi trucks with their heavy loads travelling as far as Edmonton. How will the department tackle this specific road safety concern and enforcement issues inherent to the winter road commercial trucking season, especially around the Deh Cho Bridge?

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

There are a couple of things that I can answer. I will answer them all. The Ingraham Trail, we had our recent meetings and followed up with the City of Yellowknife and the RCMP and the highways divisions. Around the Deh Cho Bridge, the Member has sent me an email on this particular issue. I have already reached out to the RCMP's traffic divisions to see if they can provide additional resources to this. I have also asked the department, ourselves. We have directed the highway patrol to provide a presence of enforcement in this area as well.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit at least, at the start and end of the trucking season, to do speeding enforcement exercises, more than likely involving our resources, including the RCMP, during the start and end of the trucking season? Mahsi.

Wally Schumann

Wally Schumann Hay River South

At the beginning of every winter road, we take safety as the number one priority, and the Member's point is well-noted. One of the things that I have asked the department already to do is look at engineered solutions, particularly around the Deh Cho Bridge, as safety is a priority, and we want to protect this asset, as well as the residents of the Northwest Territories travelling in the public.

I have asked the department to look at what it would take to install one of the posted speed limit signs that is permanently mounted there, with the radar one that tells you your speed when you are pulling up to the bridge. We are going to have a look and see if we have some resources within our Highway Safety Fund to help facilitate that. 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 know the Minister of Health and Social Services has been waiting patiently for almost an hour for these questions. Earlier I spoke about the residents of long-term care and how we could have a few more opportunities for them to live life to the fullest, and that is in terms of activities, in terms of getting out of the facility a little bit more, and things like that. I have some questions for the Minister of Health.

One of the objectives of the Department of Health's Continuing Care Action Plan is to optimize healthy aging by increasing opportunities and improving environments for seniors and elders to lead active and independent lives. This objective contains actions aimed at keeping seniors out of long-term care, including developing adult day programs and accessible transportation to help seniors get out of the house. There seems to be a recognition that these types of activities are vital to living a fulfilling life. However, the long-term care section of the action plan ignores such concepts. It speaks more about the administrative and back-end operational aspects of long-term care. Can the Minister explain why the action plan doesn't contain any actions that support mental well-being of long-term care residents? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.