Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the document entitled "Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Annual Report 2018-2019." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Member, for your comment. I will have to identify funding sources that are available through the Housing Corporation, that would meet the needs for the homeless shelter that wants to be established in Hay River. I do understand the needs throughout the Northwest Territories, and one of the ideas that I had, I am not going to commit to it, but I wanted to establish or have a homeless shelter in each of the regional centres because it is becoming a growing issue in our Northwest Territories. I am willing to work with the Member, but I need to find funding or available programs that would meet the need for the shelter in Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Member, for your comment. Right now, I'm not in a place to make a commitment to look at, I guess, the homeless shelter. I don't know; I'd have to look at what our plans are for Hay River, what money we have committed, do we have infrastructure that actually exists in that community, and what is the program development. I'm not familiar with what are the non-profit organizations that actually exist in Hay River, but I am wanting to work with the Member to find solutions to address this concern. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member, for your comments. I'd just like to acknowledge that we do have the office that administers Behchoko for Municipal and Community Affairs. We do have to recognize that we do have additional communities that the North Slave office administers, and there are seven of them, including the two here in Yellowknife. Looking at if we were to relocate our North Slave Municipal and Community Affairs office to Behchoko, there are factors that we have to explore, but then I am wanting to work with the Member and look at how we are going to deal with this going forward so we know that each and every one of our communities are going to be fairly recognized, and that we continue services throughout the North Slave region, and that it's equally served. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member, for your comments. I always like to reflect that I do come from a regional level. I do understand and see the capacity-building in the smaller communities and in the smaller local areas. I am willing to work with the Member. I would like to travel into Behchoko and take an assessment of what our office also provides, but also look at the quality of service that we offer in that community. That would be my priority right now, to make sure we are meeting the needs of the residents of Behchoko. Then, in regard to looking at the community and looking at Municipal and Community Affairs and their staff who are located in the North Slave and, in comparison, can we actually accommodate then in Behchoko, I'm not too sure at this time, but I do commit to looking forward to getting into the community and doing an assessment.

Thank you to the Member for your questions. I just wanted to give a little bit of the current status and current update for Behchoko, because it is a very unique community. It is one of the largest communities that we have in the Northwest Territories, with a significant growing population.

MACA was structured 20 years ago by so much change that has happened in this community. In 2005, the Tlicho Community Government Act was passed and implemented, giving all communities more authority and control over local decisions. Then, in 2007, MACA became an implementation of the new deal for the Northwest Territories communities, flowing a capital and gas tax fund to the community governments in order to plan and build their own infrastructure. MACA employees at the regional and headquarters level, in many ways, exercise more authority and control than they did 20 years ago.

MACA now supports community governments to complete strategic plans in their communities, develop and implement capital plans for infrastructure developments in the communities, and identify and build capacities of staff and elected officials in the communities.

MACA does support seven communities out of its North Slave office, and it is the only region that has an office that is divided between two communities, in Yellowknife and in Behchoko. In order to be able to hire and accommodate staff and facilitate their travels and support the communities in the regions, the superintendent does reside in Yellowknife, but the assistant superintendent is located in Behchoko and is a Tlicho citizen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our department has a significant amount of services that we provide at the community level. They are in comparison to what is offered in Behchoko, but Behchoko is two communities, Rae and Edzo together. We do have some of the employees in Behchoko and some of the employees in the North Slave office. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am sorry, but I don't have a timeline right now. The program is so new that I can't make a commitment as to when the expansion or further to the program.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Member for his comments. The program is quite new, and we have just established and implemented it. It went live this year. As a part of the implementation of the Northwest Territories 911 service, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs will continue to work in partnership with the GNWT departments to explore opportunities for future expansion of cellular services along the territorial highways. The GNWT has highlighted increased cellular service along the major roads and highways as a priority to the CRTC. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.