David Krutko

Mr. Speaker, just to clear the air, we have not hired any consultants for this. It has all been done in house and also working with the Department of Finance, through our finance people, to deal with this. We have been working along with other parties, which includes Imperial Oil, to see exactly how they were going to be able to consider this as a possibility of a proposal that we are putting forward through our social impacts to be considered as part of the wishes of this government.

Again, Mr. Speaker, we have been in the process of developing this. Yes, we have been requesting federal...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the majority of the units are in place. We have units going to Aklavik, Deline, Norman Wells, Rae and Gameti. The only one that still hasn’t been placed is the one in Gameti. It’s going to have to go on the winter road this winter. With regard to Rae, there are three units that have not been in place. We have one unit that is presently being constructed. We have two units still at the plant, and one unit is on site because we are presently in the process of developing the properties that they sit on. In Norman Wells, they are presently being...

Mr. Speaker, this idea has been presented through our business plan process. We have talked to committee. We basically have offered tours for committee members to see the facility for themselves. It is not as if no one has been involved in this. I think it is important to realize that this is on the basis that we have a project. Without a project, this idea will not go anywhere. I think that we have to realize that, without a pipeline, this is not…Again, we are in the process of negotiations. This is part of the government’s social impact benefits that we are hoping to derive from the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do, at times, have to depend on the expertise of other people outside of the corporation. Yes, we do have people who are responsible for different portfolios, but we are undertaking a new initiative with regard to identifying the liaison positions in communities. Before we allow those people to go in the field, we offer training to those individuals through our regional offices, or have someone come in and do that. I believe that’s the position the Member is talking about. We are trying to expand in that area in the liaison positions in communities...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe that is the whole intention, the whole idea, of centralizing a lot of the social funding that we do have, and that will be administered now through the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. The dollars presently for seniors who don't pay for rent will have to go to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. So we will no longer be subsidizing now. We will be strictly dealing with a new department that deals with social funding.

As we all know, there is $100 million that is out there in regard to some form of a grant or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, no, there hasn’t been.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have seen a lot of communities going away from these seniors’ facilities and trying to get independent housing for seniors to keep the seniors in their homes as long as we can. I think, in conjunction with the Department of Health and Social Services also, that there is a cry from communities that they want to ensure that their seniors are housed in their communities and not sent away to long-term care facilities. I think we’re balancing between keeping elders independent and in their own homes as long as we can. Also, we’re trying to ensure that we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this process has included regional staff, people at our local housing authorities, and there has been information provided to front line workers to ensure they are aware of how we are going to devolve and include them through that process. So we have made attempts to meet with our local housing authorities, our district staff, and making sure that people in headquarters are aware of how we are going to roll out with regard to those new mandate changes. We have met with those different agents that we are responsible for.

I will also mention that this has...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in regard to doing another survey, we just completed two surveys. Our surveys are usually done in conjunction with Stats Canada, and we usually do it every two years. So we have done two surveys in the last four years. What I could do for the Members is pull the report identifying those people in your riding, so we can see exactly where they are and where the surveys have pinpointed the core problem areas. We can work with you to resolve that. I will commit to that for the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, We are presently in the process of redefining the mandate of the Housing Corporation. As we all know, the social housing responsibility will be devolved to Education. We are preparing a presentation for Cabinet with regard to the mandate change which will be happening later on this week. Hopefully, we will have something to take to committee by the end of the month. We are hoping to be able to move forward on that. With the mandate change, we are hoping to see how we fit into the scenario of programs and services and, more importantly, focus on property...