Thank you. Next, we have Mr. Nakimayak.
Debates of March 7th, 2019
This is page numbers 5255 - 5298 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.
Topics
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Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a few questions. The Minister is talking about this housing summit. I would just like to express a little bit of concern. Over the last couple of years, we have had some high winds in my region and it blew off a couple of roofs. I am just wondering if, when we get to talk about this housing summit, maybe we need to look at the types of houses that have been constructed in the region, more for stability. As I mentioned earlier in this sitting, we talk about climate change in the summertime, but we don't really talk about it in the winter, and the durability of construction of government infrastructure. I think this is a good opportunity to grow on that and use examples of some of the partnerships that have been formed to help enhance that and enhance housing across the territory. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chair. To those units that were affected, I know they were built by us and built to stand, but you can never predict when you can get 140-kilometre winds that are going to have an impact on, in some cases, our aging units, so moving forward, we need to address that. I know the Member asked questions in the House earlier this sitting, and as we move forward with our community housing plans and our relationship with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, these things do need to be taken in consideration because I know, in the last couple of years, Paulatuk in particular, the coastal communities have really been seeing a drastic change in the weather. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will look to my president for more detail.
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Williams
Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, the Member, he asked a question about the summit. I think this housing summit is long overdue. It is going to be an opportunity to share good information to all the parties, how to invest into housing. You know, we have to take advantage of this co-investment fund. It is 75 percent federal dollars. It would be remiss if we don't, and we have nine years to take advantage of that money, so, you know, that is an opportunity there.
We are trying to flesh out the agenda for this summit. We want to have a really good, professionally done program, designs for northern conditions. You know, we could learn from the Inuvialuit. Actually, the last six-plex they built was their own design, that NAPEC did, and they took into consideration traditional knowledge and other avenues. So, you know, we invited our Nunavut and Yukon sisters to come visit, as well, and they could share some of their experiences on design. So this summit is going to be a good one, and it is going to be an information-sharing one for everybody. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that information. That is very well noted. When we look at housing, when we look at partnerships, or any, it could be on co-management. Look at the co-management we have with wildlife and environment and housing. It is probably one of the most key in all the regions of the Arctic. I think what we need to do or even maybe think about bringing to the table is that, you know, are our Indigenous governments willing to become landlords so that we can maximize the dollars, the contract services, the maintenance, and help Indigenous groups become more self-determining so that we can improve? I think it is going to take that. Otherwise, if it is just the government alone, then we are not going to succeed. It is going to be a one-sided game and everybody is going to lose. I think we need to really inform ourselves so that we can actually become more of a team, even though we have differences and there are some agreements with the federal government and with the Government of the Northwest Territories.
I think, you know, looking at apprenticeships, we have apprentices in a lot of the communities. In my hometown, there are a couple, and I am very proud of them, and they become housing maintainers. I think we need to look at possibly even having electrician apprentices and plumbing apprentices so they can actually help within the community and other services to break down costs. Anyway, my question is to the Minister and his team: are they going to look at that and put that on the table to make a plan, a long-term plan? It could be a 20- or 30- or 50-year plan to ensure that we are taking care of our people, as well, too. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake
. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I agree with everything the Member has mentioned. In terms of apprentices, definitely, we need to do that. On the other side, we are looking at working with homeowners through our LHOs and through our technical and maintenance staff to address some of the maintenance shortfalls that some of the contractors might not take in some of the communities. In terms of being landlords, we need to start those discussions, and I think those discussions will need to be started at this Northern Housing Summit. It's got to start at some point. You know, regardless of if any of our Indigenous governments take on public housing or get into those agreements with us, I will just let Members know that the NWT Housing Corporation will always be here to support housing for our residents, but we do need to make sure that we start those discussions. Thank you.
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Herbert Nakimayak Nunakput
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is all I have for right now. I appreciate the responses. Thank you.
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Julie Green Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to follow up the last response I was given by Mr. Martin. I asked him for a breakdown of the $3.6 million that would be spent under the new housing bilateral agreement in the next fiscal year, and I understood part of his answer was that there would be an expenditure of $1.5 million on modernization and improvements. On page 373, the budget actually shows a decrease of $751,000 in spending, so maybe he can tell me why those numbers are not adding up. Are they not referring to the same thing? Thank you.
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Martin
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, we actually incorporated in that base budget adjustment in 2018-2019, and that was as part of that initial allocation under the bilateral agreement, for modernization and improvement. Now, subsequent to that, though, there have been other adjustments in the modernization and improvements area, and one of the larger adjustments there is a $400,000 reduction associated with the decline in gain on disposal of assets, and I will explain that. That is a revenue adjustment that we had to implement in our fiscal framework. Historically, if you look at the revenue schedule, we were targeting about $800,000 a year for gains on sales of assets. However, over the last few years, we have noticed that, the Housing Corporation, the assets that we are now dealing with are aged assets and we are no longer realizing these gains on sales in these situations. So we had to adjust the fiscal framework, and where we adjusted it was in the modernization and improvement category. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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Julie Green Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So what I am hearing, then, is that the $1.5 million from the bilateral agreement is not really $1.5 million; it's more like $750,000 once it's plugged into all of the other variables. Is that correct? Thank you.
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Martin
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That is correct. There are a number of ins and outs associated with this particular line item. Thank you.
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Julie Green Yellowknife Centre
Yes, did the Housing Corporation look at any other ways to try to make up that difference? It is a considerable sum of money, almost half of what is allocated for this year. Thank you.
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The Chair R.J. Simpson
Thank you. Mr. Martin. Okay, Ms. Green, could you please repeat your question for the witnesses? Thank you.
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Julie Green Yellowknife Centre
Sure, Mr. Chair. My observation is that, rather than having an additional $1.5 million available for modernization and improvements, there is actually $750,000 available. My question is: could the difference have been made up in another way, rather than reducing minor modernization and improvements? Thank you.
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