Caroline Cochrane

It is important to note that this, the NGO Stabilization Fund, is not the only funding available to non-profit organizations within the communities. As a non-profit administrator for many years, this was actually supplementary funding. This was not the core funding that we received, so it is supplementary funding. it is about a state of pride and stabilization funding to non-government organizations that provide a critical service for the Government of the Northwest Territories that if we didn’t have them, we would have to provide those services ourselves.

Mr. Speaker, part of my role as the Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs is to ensure that we have a modern, responsive, and made-in-the-North legislative framework. This is no small task as Municipal and Community Affairs administers 19 statutes in areas that range from property assessment to emergency management to local elections. The department is currently working on several major legislative initiatives that were identified in the 18th Legislative Assembly’s mandate, or that have been directed by the Financial Management Board.

Mr. Speaker, the department is in the...

This program, as stated earlier, is about helping stabilize non-government organizations that provide a critical service that the Government of the Northwest Territories would have to provide if it wasn’t in effect. It does support volunteerism in that the majority of non-government organizations are managed by volunteer boards, which is actually part of their society’s act. So it is something that does support volunteerism to the heart and to the core.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a Minister, I work with all of Cabinet, actually, to put forward our needs for finances. As stated earlier by me many times, actually, is that every department and Minister sitting here would like to have more money. The reality is that we do have to live within a fiscally-responsible environment considering the economy and, therefore, I do put my concerns forward. Unfortunately, the money tree is not as deep as I wish it would be. I can only cut off so many branches before the tree dies. So I do put forward my needs as every other Minister does, but we are all...

Every five years, the government of the Northwest Territories does a statistical analysis of all the residents in the Northwest Territories. Part of that actually addresses the housing needs within the territories, and that gives us our core need report. The last one was done in 2014; so I am expecting that fairly soon another full report will be done. At that time, it will break down exactly where the core needs are, if it is suitability, adequacy, or affordability. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I do have to say that I am the Minister for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. I do not run the Department of Infrastructure, and I do hope the Department of Infrastructure is also working on winter roads because winter is right around the corner. I can say that we have 700 seniors currently in public housing units. We have 374 public housing units that are designated for seniors and/or disabled people. We built seniors' complexes within the last couple of years in Fort McPherson, Fort Good Hope, Fort Liard, Whati, and Aklavik.

We have increased programs for seniors. We have a...

Yes, as stated earlier, any time that there is a major disaster, in this case, an evacuation, we do review all the techniques that were used, the tactics, and see if we can make them better. Some communities, I hate to say that are in better situation than others. I know market communities, they will put them on public service announcements. They have webpages. They have radio announcements

Smaller communities unfortunately do not often have that service, so sometimes it is a matter of communities actually having to go door-to-door to get people evacuated. Nahanni Butte did have cell service so...

Absolutely. On the second day of evacuation, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs decided that it would be better to keep the residents out of the community for an extra day. Those costs would be covered, and we have just got the municipality collecting those at this time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to provide you with a report on the Government of the Northwest Territories’ progress on meeting its mandate commitments related to housing. Under the priority of cost of living of the 18th Legislative Assembly, this government is committed to continuing to implement northern solutions for northern housing. Addressing homelessness is part of this commitment.

One of the related actions is our support for the Housing First project in Yellowknife. An agreement was signed with the Yellowknife Women’s Society to fund this project in the amount of $450,000 over three years...

As stated earlier in my answers, we are actually just in the process of doing a full review of all services available to seniors, identifying how many seniors, what their needs are, and what the most effective way is to keep them not only in their homes, but comfortable, so that they can be in their homes and age in place. That process is just starting.