Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As we are debating the budget here, we will definitely get it done in 2019-2020. The sooner that we can get it done, the better. That way, we can continue to provide services to the South Slave region. As committed to other Members, we will make sure the Member is kept up to date on how we are moving forward on this. Thank you.

I appreciate the advocacy that the Member is bringing on for seniors and aging in place. With the planning study, we did identify that there are certain communities across the Northwest Territories that we do need to provide adequate care and services to, and as I have mentioned in this House before, the three communities that were identified were Yellowknife, Hay River, and Norman Wells. We want to make sure that we identify our priorities as a government, but at the same time we also want to make sure that our Indigenous governments and our municipalities also work with us and take part of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. At this moment, no, but it will be something that we will have to look at addressing and providing. I don't want to beat a dead horse here, but we only have so many resources within our department to provide the services, but it is something that we have taken into serious consideration, that, when ATIP goes through, we are going to be one of the partners at the table that is going to be providing the training for our municipal governments. We will definitely be doing that. I just want to assure the Member that it is something that our department will be undertaking...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think all of Cabinet, I think all Members, have heard. I will definitely look at the policy. I think a good-news story on this one is that we have increased the funding to the NGO Stabilization Fund, but it is something that we do need to also look at. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think there are a couple of department that work in this area. We would definitely work with the municipality to identify what their needs are. As they develop their community plans, we would work on supporting them. As previously mentioned, there is a Section 35. Depending on which community is putting their community plans forward, there might be some consultation that would be needed to take in with our Indigenous partners, Indigenous governments and also working with the Department of Lands to address the needs moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I mentioned, we do have the interdepartmental committee that is working with the staff and the mayor of Hay River. We have to wait until we see what comes out of those discussions. I can't commit to a timeline. This is an interdepartmental commitment, so I will have to also chat with my Cabinet colleagues moving forward. What I can let the Member know: we have had those discussions. We will continue to have those discussions. Moving forward, we will see what our next steps are, and we will keep the Member informed. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Once the residents raised the issue of the heating issues during the winter months, we did work with our professional engineers and our designers to address the issue. As I mentioned earlier, in-floor heating was the best solution to address the issue. We have done that, and as I mentioned, from my understanding, it has been completed. I will get an official confirmation for the Member. Moving forward, we will continue to assess the Joe Greenland building. I mean, it's providing a valuable service to our residents in the Beaufort-Delta, and we will continue to monitor that particular building.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As we are working on this legislation, once we have a document done, we will share it with committee. We will make sure that it is shared before the transition documents are completed so that the next government that comes in knows what legislation needed to be completed within our department. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As we have heard and as we have deliberated through the MACA department, there is a lot going on within our department right now. As you know, a lot of our staff are currently down at the Canada Winter Games. I am sure that, once that slows down, we will be able to put more focus on the youth strategy, as well as getting that youth council together. Definitely, as soon as we get that information, we will be sharing it with committee. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Not through our department. That would be more through the Executive and Indigenous, with Indigenous government services. Thank you, Mr. Chair.