This is page numbers 659 - 708 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 community.

Topics

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Member for Kam Lake.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much. I'll take that that it's divided equally by region, so thank you. My next question is in regard to the programs, development and implementation line. That has gone up substantially, and I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to what Northerners will get for that increase in that dollar line. Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm going to have Mr. Carpenter elaborate on it. I just can't locate this right away, quickly.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Carpenter.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Carpenter

Thank you, Madam Chair. If you look on page 374, we have the community housing support initiative. In prior budgets, we used to send that out to each district office, but most of the proponents are coming through us in Yellowknife. We just moved the budget out of that program, development and implementation section for coordination. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Carpenter. Member for Kam Lake.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Can the vice-president please expand on the community housing support initiative, then, please? Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Mr. Carpenter.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Carpenter

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just to give a bit of history, over the years, we've been receiving a lot of interest from community groups to pretty much say, "Give us the money, and we'll do our own housing projects better than you can." What we did is: about a year or two ago, we developed this initiative and put some money into it, where it's a very simple policy that, if you have a project that you want to do on your own that benefits community housing, we want to participate in it. The criteria is that any project that benefits housing, whether it's homelessness, there is a community that went around and built ramps, there are communities that got units from us. The only prerequisite is that they have to have some sort of participation in it, in terms of a contribution or a labour component. We're very excited about this program. We've had a lot of exciting projects has been happening with it. We did homeownership projects in some places, as I've said, and we have a lot of interest, again, this year for this project. This is one of those projects that touches on every point of the mandate. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 671

The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Carpenter. Member for Kam Lake.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I was just looking at the activity description on page 372 that says that the program, development and implementation ensures compliance with existing program policies and procedures and also supplies training and capacity required to effectively and efficiently deliver the programs and services. Does the cost of building the ramps and the cost of hiring people to do those types of home accessibility or home renovation projects all come out of this dollar figure here? Thank you.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to give an example that we have had this initiative successful, in Fort Good Hope, where we have had the K'asho Got'ine approach the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, and they wanted to start to renovate their own homes. The Housing Corporation went in with them. They submitted a proposal. We have honoured that proposal. We have the agreement, and so the K'asho Got'ine go and they renovate on their own. It's not an application; it's a community initiative that the Housing Corporation is kind of involved with by grant. They supplied the money for the project. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. I will move on to Member for Thebacha.

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Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

Thank you, Madam Chair. On page 374, securing assistance for emergencies, you have $1.5 million. Could you explain that program, please?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Madam Chair. This program would be for immediate assistance that would be required for, I want to say, home renovation. Not home renovation, but home repair that would be an emergency, that would need to be addressed right away. Right away, at the top of my head, would be is if you had a freeze-up, water and sewer had frozen up; this is the funding that you would be accessing. I will have Mr. Carpenter elaborate on that a little bit more. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Carpenter.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Carpenter

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is the Housing Corporation's flagship emergency repair program. It has as minimal criteria as we can. We set it up for $10,000 per year. It's one of our heavily subscribed programs. People like it. It addresses things like freeze-ups; furnace issues, commonly; and a lot of seniors use that program. Even though we set up a budget there of $1.56 million, typically, in a winter, we will usually exceed that budget, and we find money within to do that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Mr. Carpenter. Member for Thebacha.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos Thebacha

Thank you, Madam Chair. When a natural disaster happens, where do the funds come from for that? Like, for a natural disaster within a community, I would like to know: where would the funds come for that?

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to be very clear on this that the Housing Corporation administers their units and their houses and their infrastructure that they own. If one of our units had experienced one of these natural disaster situations within our own stock, this is the funding that we would use to repair those damages. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Lesa Semmler

Thank you, Minister. Member for Thebacha.