Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, the Honourable Robert C. McLeod. Since 1996 a policy came into place in this government where seniors living in public housing over the age of 60 would pay zero rent. I believe the initial intent of this was to target seniors in small, remote communities where people in the housing units had not ever been involved in the wage economy, had come more from a traditional economy, but in the government’s wisdom decided to apply it to every community and every senior living in public housing...

Thank you very much, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister Miltenberger, before you make your response, would you please introduce your witness for the record. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you. At that time we’ll ask the Minister to introduce his witnesses for the record. But in the interest of time, we will get underway. There will be 10 minutes allowed per time that Members speak and you can always go back if you want to. Just in terms of format, as well, does committee agree that we will make our general comments and allow the Minister to respond to general comments just once at the end of your general comments? Agreed?

Thank you. We will proceed with that after a brief recess. Thank you.

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As MLAs we’ve heard the desperate cry of parents who have children that are addicted to drugs and alcohol that are turning to us as a government and saying what can you do for my child. Is there any mechanism through the Department of Social Services, through community wellness workers? Is there any tool that this government has access to that could work with these youth to encourage them to seek help, to help them self-identify as having a problem and seek help? It’s almost unbelievable to me that we have this big a problem with drugs and alcohol and yet we as a government say hey, we’ve got...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on the questions that were raised by my colleague with respect to addictions treatment facilities. Mr. Moses indicated three communities where there were buildings that he thought perhaps the government could look at for addictions treatment.

I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services if the Hay River Hospital, currently scheduled for replacement within a few years, is a building that could be considered. There are a lot of young people in the Northwest Territories that are obviously addicted to drugs and alcohol. I think...

I want to say that Hay River has capacity. We have affordable homes. We have space available. We have schools that need more children in there to populate our schools. We have capacity. There’s nothing infrastructure-wise that we need to add to be able to absorb some of the government.

One of the biggest decisions that came out of the program review office was to build another $40 million office building in Yellowknife. Maybe it’s time to re-profile the program review office to analyzing department or government-wide opportunities for decentralization. Perhaps we should change their mandate. Is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As most people in this House know, Hay River is an entrepreneurial, resilient little town that has bounced back from many losses; thinking back not so far to the loss of Pine Point as our neighbours, and we have continued to hold our own. But it’s time, although we try to stay very positive, it is time to sound the alarm. I feel the pain of my colleagues from Inuvik, as well, with what they’re facing. The Mackenzie Gas Project is being deferred, it would appear. Electricity rates are going up. There are lots of things pressing in upon us, and we now look to the...

Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about fairness. This government has an obligation to consider decentralization of government programs and services. We can’t change where some things are located, where there is a river, a lake, rare earths, diamonds, natural deposits. We can’t change where those things are located and the industry that may spring up around them, but we can certainly change the economic outlook for our regions and for our communities.

Centralization of government is a self-perpetuating problem. The more centralization occurs, the more rationale there is for more centralization...