This is page numbers 79 - 104 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd 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.

Topics

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

An interdepartmental Missing and Murdered Indigenous working group was set up to coordinate the GNWT's response to calls for justice. This working group is chaired by the special advisor to the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, and it includes appointed representatives from departments such as Justice, Executive and Indigenous Affairs, Health and Social Services, Education, Culture and Employment, as well as the Housing Corporation. Other departments are invited to attend to the meetings as required. This working group will be doing an in-depth review and analyze the calls for justice. A time frame has not been established for the completion of this review, but it is anticipated that it will require detailed discussions.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Has the Minister had a chance to directly speak to those who are responsible for the national action plan since being elected to ensure appropriate, sustainable, long-term funding is available to the GNWT to fully implement these calls for justice, and if not, will the Minister commit to this government and all Ministers to lobby Canada for their federal counterparts to ensure long-term sustainable funding is provided to ensure full implementation for calls to justice?

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

I have attended the provincial-federal-territorial status of women, and in the meetings, we talked about having commitment to look forward, going through the review.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In light of this new issue, with the government being a minority government, I am afraid that if we don't get moving on this issue sooner than later, that if there is a chance that the next government, if our minority federal government changes, we may not have good strength and movement on this. I would like the Minister to commit that she would push harder and get more familiar with this so that we can get commitments from our federal partners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Absolutely. That is my intent, and the Member has brought it up in the House several times, and also made it her commitment, and that is something that I will commit to looking into. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the NWT Housing Corporation Minister. Can the Minister confirm that LHOs have been instructed to use T4 slips to do tenants' assessments? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation?

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the housing corporation has been instructed to use T4 slips for their rental scale. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Are there any forms of proof, such as current pay, current ways of paying using pay stubs or monthly income support for more accurate rental payment assessment for that month?

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

I would like to advise that I would encourage the client to go into our local housing authority office to receive rental assessment, and to make sure that they remain consistent, but it is the client's responsibility to make sure that, if they have any changes in their income, that they report it to the local housing authority.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Where can the public find this, because I couldn't find it, Mr. Speaker, in the NWT Housing Corporation's policies, to show all the bureaucratic requirements are clearly understood in regard to the T4s? Where does it show in legislation that that is to be used?

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

The details are outlined in our policy. I don't have my information in front of me to reference it right now. We do not work through legislation. The Housing Corporation works through policy.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Nunakput.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is pretty tough when people have to come in and do T4s because they do seasonal work. You are working, probably, four months, and then, they come back home, and then the assessment that they are given, they still have to pay for the whole 12 months at that higher rate, where people are having problems paying power, food, clothing for their kids. We never did this before in the past, Mr. Speaker, in the policies. Where does it show in the policies in regard to T4 slips? It doesn't show. Can the Minister provide that information to the House? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

In regards to the policy of outlining the T4 slips in our rental scale, I will have to get back to the Member and provide him the information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in my statement, helping seniors to age in place is a priority for this Assembly, but we need to improve supports for them to make this priority a reality. One area that needs work is helping Yellowknife seniors to get out of the House and socialize, whatever their physical and cognitive abilities. The Department of Health and Social Services surveyed seniors about the kinds of activities that they would like to take part in. Today, I have questions for the Minister about the results. First of all, what did seniors say they need in order to participate in social activities? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The results indicated that older adults in Yellowknife are active and want to remain physically and socially active. All the age groups identified transportation, affordability of activities, and a lack of information about social activities as a barrier to social engagement. By far, the biggest concern was transportation: city bus not being available when activities are scheduled, routines are not close enough to home, and numerous challenges with the Yellowknife Accessible Transit Services. In addition, those 75 years and older identified lack of accessibility within buildings and lack of supports in physical and mental health needs as barriers to social engagement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

That is good information from the Minister. Can the Minister give us a sense of what kind of response rate they got to the survey and particularly from those who are over 80 and those who may have cognitive limitations?

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

We did not ask individuals whether they had cognitive limitation, so we do not have that data. The age group set up for the survey allowed us to capture information for individuals 75 to 85 years old and 85-plus years of age. Forty-five individuals 75 years and older responded to the survey; that was 10 percent of the survey respondents. Forty people were 75 to 84 years of age, and eight people were 85 years and older.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

I am a little concerned about how the needs of people with cognitive issues were taken into account in this survey. How were they engaged in this survey?

Diane Archie

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

At this time, I don't know the data on the limitations, but it is something we can look into and get back to the Member.