Caroline Cochrane

The deal with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation to provide them $15 million was not a Government of the Northwest Territories decision. It was a federal decision. We had no input into that. The Government of the Northwest Territories was not consulted in that process, so we can't determine what the federal government did with that or where they are going to move in the future.

However, what I can say is that, for the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, we take care of the needs of all residents within the Northwest Territories. So just...

There is a variety of supports that seniors can actually access for renovating their own homes that they currently live in. Recently, we also put an extra $500,000 into our budget specifically for seniors' homes, that they can actually use to help renovate so that they can stay in their homes as long as possible.

We are working hand in hand with Health and Social Services. We recognize that, seniors, there is a huge need, that the population is growing, and we are doing the best we can to try to help seniors to be able to age in place, whether that means staying in their own homes or having...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently at this moment I do not know if we have tracked the seniors' needs in Tsiigehtchic at this point. I can make a promise that we will do an assessment on the community and see how many seniors there are. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As the Members are aware, the housing survey actually just closed the other day, and so we will actually have the statistics coming in which we will share with all Members, which will identify the prioritized needs of each community and what they say. So, once that information is all compiled, I will share that with all of the Members.

The current practice is that we try to do an assessment every year, and we try to look at all of the housing needs throughout the whole Northwest Territories. In my opinion, that was not always the best practice. That is why we are doing the survey and actually developing community plans, because, at that time, each community would have its own identified priorities, which, in my opinion, is a better way of providing services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs was recently the subject of a performance audit conducted by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada. The audit assessed the department's performance as it relates to supporting community governments with the provision of essential services to residents.

The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is always looking for ways to improve our programs and services. Given this commitment, we welcome the report and recommendations of the Auditor General.

The report of the Auditor General was tabled in this...

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of the work that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has done as part of the Government of the Northwest Territories’ commitment to education, training, and youth development. Today, I would like to provide an update on the progress the department is making in the area of governance, capacity building, and support for community governments in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, the cost of attending or delivering training in the Northwest Territories has always been high and can be challenging for community governments to work into their budgets...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to present the 2017-2018 Main Estimates for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $2.56 million from the 2016-2017 Main Estimates, which is a 2.4 per cent increase.

These estimates continue to support the Government of the Northwest Territories' objective of ensuring a strong and sustainable future for the government and its programs by managing expenditures due to limited revenue growth.

The 2017-2018 Main Estimates include an increase of $1.6 million from the 2017-18 business plan...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes. All of the recommendations through the Auditor General's report have been taken very seriously, and we are working diligently to fulfill all of the recommendations. One thing we should note is that one of the biggest areas that we recognize that we need to step up is just the paperwork. There were a lot of visits done into communities, there were supports provided, that we actually didn't keep track of, so, as part of our commitment to the recommendations of the audit, we are actually increasing our tracking of supports we provide to the communities. Thank you, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. What I can commit to is that I will do my best. Our department will do the best to try to get the working group resolutions out and finished and agreed to by the next business planning process. We will share that with the organizations, that that is our timeline, and we will push them towards meeting that timeline. Thank you, Mr. Chair.