David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as all government departments usually use the stats Bureau of Statistics that we do collect every four years. It was collected two years ago, along with Stats Canada and the NWT Bureau of Statistics. That is the basis of the information that we have used in determining exactly where the core needs are. But also internally we have done core needs surveys in all the communities in the Northwest Territories, as we had a long debate in this House where a motion was passed to increase our core needs in some 20 communities throughout the Northwest Territories...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I commit to the Member that I will sit down with him and the community to review the emergency measures plan, what investment we made in the community by upgrading the existing power plant to ensure we avoid these situations. More importantly, we will assure the seniors that we do have a safe and secure power distribution system in the community so that we do not have the situation we had last year. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we all know, when there are emergencies or power outages or fires or power plants burn down, there is a backup plan in place in every community by way of the emergency measures that are in place through the municipalities, through the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and other government agencies to ensure that we have evacuation plans in place, so when we have these instances, we are able to respond. So there is an emergency plan in place that will allow the transportation of the elders or seniors to the appropriate accommodation either...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, we have had a power outage with regard to the incident last winter because of the hydropower that caused the outage. Because of the old diesel generator backup system we had in the community, it was not functioning properly and we made the decision to replace the generator that is there, so we won’t have the situation we had last year. The idea of having two systems in the community is to ensure we have an adequate source of power, so that when the power does go out, you have a backup system. The system that is there now will serve the community for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department has looked at it in conjunction with the Power Corporation and looked at the cost of putting a generator in that facility. The Power Corporation has installed new diesel generators in the community to ensure they have a secure power base. As we all know, Behchoko has two sources of power, hydro and also it does have a backup generator system which is new. We replaced the engines in the old power plant and it should avoid the blackouts and ensure we have an adequate source of power in that community. So through those discussions between the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, presented 12 aboriginal youth from across Canada with the National Aboriginal Role Model Award during a ceremony at Rideau Hall yesterday.

Each year, the National Aboriginal Role Model Program celebrates the accomplishment of 12 aboriginal role models aged 13 to 30 from across Canada, the First Nations communities, Inuit and Metis communities. The role models are nominated by their parents and also selected for their accomplishment under leadership skills initiative through...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, having the facilities identified in our communities as a central emergency facilities that do have backup systems, again, it’s worked into our emergency measures plan with MACA, ourselves and other agencies. Again, because the situation happened in Behchoko, we have to see exactly the recommendations that come forward from the emergency measures report, review those recommendations and act on them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, I have to sympathize with the Member and I am sorry for the incident that did occur. It was a natural occurrence where the power system went down when one of our towers collapsed under the weight of the ice that was on it. It was an unforeseen accident that occurred. The other situation we ran into was the backup system we had did not work because it was not maintained. So the Power Corporation has replaced the existing power plant in Behchoko with a modern power plant, so the system does work. We are trying to avoid this situation from happening...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have not made that decision yet. We have been working with the community, the emergency measures people and also working with the Northwest Territories Power Corporation who have upgraded the power plant in Behchoko so it is able to operate when the power goes down by way of a backup system for the hydro system that comes offline. Because of these changes, we are hoping that once we have a final report, we will be able to meet the satisfaction of the community of Behchoko by way of having a backup system in place.

Mr. Speaker, as we all know, the problem we face here is we don’t have a means of doing an asset-based test on what assets these seniors have. In order for us to change it, that seemed to be where the problem is. How do you assess an individual by way of an application process to ensure that they are aboveboard on whether they can afford rent or can’t they? That’s why this problem is unique to the market communities and that’s where we have to focus our decision. Again, we will be having to come forward and have a discussion paper to look at how we can make these changes. We are already...