This is page numbers 229 - 294 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 going.

Topics

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank the Minister for that. Clearly, though, we need to start to do our homework about what this contingent liability is going to look like. I am just wondering if the Minister can tell me how this liability is going to be entered into the public accounts?

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

I don't have the answer. I will get back to the Member. I have no clue how it is going to be done. It is the first time I thought about it or heard about it. I will take ownership of that, and we will get back to the Member with that answer.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

I want to thank you the Minister for that. I didn't give him a heads-up about these because, obviously, I am kind of excited about this issue, to say the least, and the liabilities that are heading towards us, hurtling towards us. I want to ask the Minister, though: what are we going to do to prevent this from happening again? We have seen this happen again and again and again in the North, whether it is Giant Mine, Colomac, you name it. Name me one site that has actually been properly reclaimed, here. What is this government going to do to prevent this from happening again?

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

This one I can answer. I appreciate the Member's commitment and willingness to bring this forward. Presently, the departments of ENR, Lands, OROGO, and ITI or Industry, Tourism and Investment, we are meeting. We are working on this. We are trying to make sure that we have the opportunity to learn from it so we can make sure this doesn't happen in the future. We are also working with the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Resource Board in regard to that regulation, as well. We are trying to work with all the parties right now. Unfortunately, with this Cameron Hills situation, it happened, and we were working on trying to get the reclamation plan in place. Unfortunately, they went into receivership before we could do it. We are working on it.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Frame Lake.

Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I just want to remind him we were both Members of the last Assembly. This was a commitment made in the last mandate, to have in place a proper system to prevent this from happening. It didn't happen in the last Assembly. In the very first round of legislation post-devolution in the last Assembly, what we did was we passed a Public Land Act that removed mandatory financial security. How could that happen? First time we get a chance to try to deal with something like this and we remove the mandatory financial security. Unbelievable, Mr. Speaker. That act is not in force yet, thank goodness, but I want to see if the Minister is willing to re-evaluate what happened with the Public Land Act and put in place mandatory financial security again. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

We are willing to always look at things to improve it. We will look at it. I am not going to make a commitment here in the House that we will add it, but we will look at it. We will get back to committee at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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. My question are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I would like to know if clients have to be on the housing wait list to get support for rent. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe the question was about the housing wait list and income assistance and whether, to be eligible for income assistance, the clients have to be on the housing wait list. Okay. I see heads nodding. Yes, that is technically how the system works. However, there are always exceptions and exceptional cases. Sometimes, people are not allowed in housing for a number of reasons. In those cases, we would work with the clients. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Can the Minister tell me, I know it is a quite detailed question; if not, he can get back to me: how much does income support provide to an individual for rent in Inuvik if they are on the wait list? Because I know by looking at the market to find a unit, the cheapest one is $900 is month.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

I don't have that detailed information. It is more than $900. I know this just from being an MLA and then seeing an increase in the previous Assembly. I can get that detailed information for the Member.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

The reason I am asking is, if you are a student and you are getting funding, so you get some income, which, if you are a single student, you get $850, and they have been on the wait list for five-plus years. This is a scenario. Would they qualify for income support to offset if they were to find private accommodations to have a home on their own?

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

I've been dealing with Income Assistance quite a bit lately. We're looking at some interesting initiatives and ways to really make the program work better for the people of the territory. While I have been spending lots of time on this file, I don't have the skill set that perhaps our client service officers in the regions have, and so I can't answer that very detailed question right now. I am happy to get back to the Member and I can sit down with the Member, with some staff, as well, and we can have a little briefing if she would like to get down to the nitty-gritty of this.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Lesa Semmler

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just the last one: I want to see if the Minister would commit as well to working with the Minister of housing and looking at some of those housing lists to see if there is a way that we can get some of these people by income support and housing list to work together, and get them into homes as they wait for a unit to come available.

R.J. Simpson

R.J. Simpson Hay River North

I've been talking about how we have two housing systems, basically, in the territory. We have the social housing system through the Housing Corporation and we have ECE, which provides housing for a number of residents. I want to do that kind of work. I want to have those discussions with the housing Minister and figure out how we can make those two systems work better. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The question I have is for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. It has to do with the Co-Investment Fund. I guess we have heard about the Co-Investment Fund for the last couple of days and I have a feeling that it might be that elusive Loch Ness monster, or something like that, that we'll never find. In saying that, the Family Resource Centre in Hay River is also looking to access that program. I suspect that they are looking for investment from the NWT Housing Corporation as well. I had asked the Minister if she will provide the Family Resource Centre with access to her staff as she is doing for the people in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Co-Investment Fund that is available for the Northwest Territories by the federal government is such a new program, going forward, I instructed my staff to structure a process that the public can access this funding. I will commit to the Member that my staff and the Family Resource Centre of Hay River will work together so they can get an idea and communicate what this funding is about, how they access it, and the application process, and the financial resources that are available, as well.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

It is just important to note that the Hay River Family Resource Centre, as with other non-profits, has limited resources, they have limited staff, and they probably have limited expertise when it comes to filling out some of these government forms. I appreciate the fact that the Minister will work with me on that, and the Family Resource Centre. I guess just kind of a note that I'm hoping that they look beyond just going there and saying, "Here is how you fill it out," but to actually assist. I'm asking for a little more commitment than just showing up to the door and saying, "Here are the forms, here is what you need."

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

As I go forward with this new initiative that is offered by the federal government, I am becoming more familiar with the process. There is funding that is available for the clients, should they need a consultant to help them with the application process. During that process, the Housing Corporation will be available. It won't be an approach of knock on your door, "here are your papers", and run. Nothing like that. It's going to be thorough, and, as we go forward, I need to have my staff work closely with our clients so that we are very clear, so we don't end up with misinterpretation, so it doesn't delay applications coming forward.

Rocky Simpson

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

I'm pleased to hear that. We have to be more collaborative and we have to be more proactive in the approach that we take. We've got to learn to say yes, as the Minister of Health has learned how to do.