The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. I would just like to recognize those individuals who are in the gallery, as well, if we haven't already recognized you. Thanks for being here with us. It is also a pleasure to have an audience as part of our proceedings. Masi. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be for the Minister responsible for Housing. We have all heard in the news about bedbugs in the community, specifically a nine-plex in the Clusters here. There have been different reports and accounts of what is happening there. Can the Minister tell us exactly what the current situation is? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to acknowledge the Member for bringing this to our concern. We have seen a lot of it in the news, as well as in the media and all over social media. We are addressing the issue. I know that, through our local housing organization, we did identify some units that did have the bedbugs. We did address them the way that we do treat it. Then, at the same time, we went above and beyond to look at all of our public housing units, and we did identify six other units that we needed to do the treatment to. We have done that.

Our current situation is that we are going to be looking at doing some training in Fort Simpson. We are going to be bringing a lot of our maintainers into the community to do that training so that, for any bedbug issues that we have throughout the Northwest Territories, we will make sure that our maintainers have the equipment and are trained to address the issue. I do appreciate that the Member and the leadership have brought that to our concern. We will be working on treating those units to the best of our ability and getting people trained for the future. Thank you.

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Could the Minister please explain what the standard process used by the NWT Housing Corporation is to treat the incidents of these bedbug infestations?

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

The NWT Housing Corporation follows its standard protocols to deal with insect infestations when and after they have occurred. This involves an inspection to determine the type of insect and provide the appropriate treatment measures to remove the insects from the unit as soon as possible. That is what we have tried to do with Simpson, and then doing further follow-up, addressing some of our other public housing units.

As I have mentioned, we have purchased heat treatment systems for each of our district offices. Technical staff are trained, and they have the proper equipment in place to deal with the bedbug issue. It is a four-hour treatment that results in minimal disruption to our tenants' lives and daily business, and our staff also do follow-up inspections in affected units to ensure that the heat treatment was 100 percent effective. We will continue to do that as we move forward.

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

As we are moving forward, I just wanted to make sure that people understand that, when we do have residents move out, what I have learned through this whole process is that we have to make sure that their stuff is actually washed and cleaned because, if not, they could bring it back in. I am learning, as the department and the Health Department are educating me on this. The Minister briefly elaborated on this question, but I am going to ask it again: are there any other initiatives that this government has taken to reduce the incidents of bedbug infestations moving forward?

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

As I mentioned, we did purchase the equipment for our district offices. In Simpson, we are going to be holding a joint workshop with the Department of Health and Social Services in the next month for technical staff from every community so that they are up-to-date and trained and so that we can address the issue of bedbugs in whatever region they are in. It is an issue, and as the Member mentioned, when you do move, or if you are out of your unit, you have to be careful in terms of when you pack up. There might be cases where you might have the bedbugs in a bag. We had the expert who made those comments in the media lately.

We are working with the Chief Public Health Officer, and we will provide a public health perspective, including detection and prevention. We are on top of this and addressing the issue in the Member's riding, as well as throughout the Northwest Territories.

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister and his department for being so proactive. I know that they are doing a lot of work, and I have to give credit to the local housing authority for becoming the experts, unwillingly, but they are becoming the experts on this, so I would like to thank them for that. The last question that I do have for the Minister, and we are hearing different things on this, is: do bedbugs pose a health risk to people, besides just the irritation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Our department, NWT Housing Corporation, continues to work closely with the environmental health unit from Health and Social Services in eliminating the bedbug incidences in public housing units in all of our communities.

I just want to let the Member and Members know that bedbugs are not considered to be a public health hazard, and we are working with the Department of Health and Social Services to make sure that we educate our tenants to address this issue and make sure that any detecting of bedbugs is reported immediately to the local housing organizations. As I mentioned, with any families or any of our tenants who are in public housing units, if they do encounter bedbugs in their units, they can contact their LHOs, or they can call the number 1-844-NWT-HOME and give that information. That is information for all residents of the Northwest Territories.

As I have mentioned, I appreciate that the Member did bring this up, and we are addressing the issue in his riding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Can the Minister tell me how many days outside of break-up and freeze-up that a nurse has visited the community of Tsiigehtchic? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.