Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I mentioned, I know that there are a lot of acts within this department that need to be addressed. I think 911 is going to be one that is going to be very successful, and one that we're going to monitor and evaluate as it proceeds. Yes, we do have a plan, based on our resources, that we can address some of these legislation priorities. We will deal with them the best that we can. I know, during business plans, we did have questions whether or not our department was resourced well enough to address some of these issues, and as I just previously mentioned, we're doing...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. First of all, we always continue to support our partner stakeholders that do work and have youth representatives, whether it is in sport, recreation, or other youth initiatives. We continue to support our partners, whether it is territorial or national. Moving forward, this is something that was brought up in the May/June sitting, developing a council. I know that the federal government has a strong interest in this, and it is something that we are starting to move on. In terms of an update, I would have to get more detail in terms of where we are with that. We do need to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a little bit of history with the Joe Greenland Centre in Aklavik. That was completed in the fall of 2015. When it was completed, there were concerns raised by residents of the community that some of the units didn't have adequate heating during the winter.

The Housing Corporation did do an assessment, and we found, in order to resolve the issue and the situation, that in-floor heating was identified as the most appropriate solution to fix that problem. We went ahead, and we did that. The installation of in-floor heating began last year in November, when the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We provide different services. In terms of IBAs, that's more associated with the Executive, the EIA. We provide different services, so that wouldn't fall under this one. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think that the Member has said it very well. It is going to be hard to close the gap, working with our municipalities. We do have a strategy to address the issue. I was open with Members today when I answered questions in the House, as well as made my Member's statement, and this is going to be the same dialogue that I do have with the NWT Association of Communities. Within this government, we have seven months left. I don't think we are going to be able to close that gap, but we have made significant impacts to address some of the needs of our municipality governments...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I may go to my deputy minister in a bit, here, but, as the Member had mentioned, obviously we do have to comply with national building codes. He mentioned fire safety, electrical, and really what it comes down to is the safety of our residents. We want to make sure that they are safe when we're looking at building new infrastructure. The work that we're continuing to do, obviously, we started really complying lately, but we are doing some great work within MACA over the last few years to make sure that we are compliant. I know there have been some issues from contractors...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It would have to be calculated on the type of games, where the games are going to be held, and who is all going to be involved, so I can't give a dollar figure at this moment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Community governments are an important partner for the Government of the Northwest Territories, and we continue to be one of the only jurisdictions in Canada that provides ongoing funding to this level of government. While we recognize that community governments have many financial needs that exceed current funding levels, we remain committed to supporting them and have made considerable gains in closing the community government funding gap during the 18th Legislative Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, at this time, I do seek unanimous consent to conclude my Minister's statement...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's always been an ongoing issue, I think, in every community, and that's something that we need to work with our local governments on addressing. Obviously, we want to play a strong role in that. Any administration or municipal government that does feel that they need support and work on our behalf, I encourage them to come and speak with us to address those needs in terms of derelict properties and areas in their communities. I know, since I've been in the position, we have made some adjustments for some small communities to address these needs. Like I said, I...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As Members are aware, I did give a Minister's statement earlier today about the work that we are doing with the municipalities, trying to address that gap. I have said it openly to all Members here this afternoon, that I really don't think we're going to be able to address that gap during this government. I'm not tying the hands of any future governments, and we will have a strategy. As one of the Members asked earlier today, we will have that strategy report ready for tabling in the May-June sitting. Thank you.