Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate the committee on this work. I think it is very progressive that you are actually making the amendments to reflect the current beliefs around gender and inclusiveness, so just my appreciation to the committee for this. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

No, the original contract completion dates were between March and June 2017. There were some delays that have been happening, so at this point they have not met the completion date.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since I do not know that exact figure at this time, I will have to take the question as notice. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this government is committed to improving access to services and enhancing community wellness and safety through the implementation of a territorial 911 program. I would like to describe some of the key steps the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has taken to ensure that 911 becomes a reality for the territory and that the 911 program benefits all the communities.

In May, a 911 program manager was hired to design a culturally respectful, made-in-the-North 911 program. The program will be based on best practices and established standards. It will foster community...

Yes. We are currently in the process of reviewing all of the options at this point. I know that, within the next two weeks, we will have defined which way or path we are going forward.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to start by actually addressing the question. I am actually glad the honourable Member asked this question. Earlier with her questions, I had promised to give her a contract. I have since learned that, actually, I may not be able to give her the full contract because of the Privacy Act. I will be able to provide her with the information that is on the normal procurement site, but not the whole contract. I just want to apologize for any misunderstanding that I may have given before. In answer to the contract that is being done now, I can state that the...

As stated earlier, the housing programs expanded in the early 1960s to the mid-1960s to incorporate Indian and Eskimo housing. Then it evolved into Northern Territorial rental units and some public housings were built from about the mid-1960s to the early 1970s.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to start by qualifying before I answer the Member's question about that, the information that I have on hand is just my understanding at this point and hasn't been qualified or researched. I will answer it, but based on my immediate understanding, not stuff that I can actually say I've researched and is factual, but my understanding is that the federal government started building homes in the Northwest Territories. They were built for treaty Indians, actually, and I apologize for the term, but that was the term used in the times from the mid- to the late...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was going to let him have the last word, but I appreciate it. Again, I do support it. I do wish that it would have had some kind of timeline that said every four years or something that the voter's list would be updated just because it is so obsolete and just unmanageable, in my opinion. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It is a really fine line that that Member is asking me to consider, in all honesty, because I do believe in self-determination, and I think that allowing the local housing organizations to have autonomy and determination of how they use their funding is best practice, in my opinion.

I can commit that I would recommend we meet with the local housing organizations on an annual basis. I can bring this up as a topic of discussion, but at this point, no, I am not willing to instruct local housing organizations on what to do with their compensation, the funding that we provide them for administrating...