Julie Green

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to talk about the urgent need to accelerate the economic diversification of our economy. Members learned this lesson during the first week of this Assembly, when De Beers told us they plan to close the Snap Lake diamond mine. It was a timely reminder that all the diamond mines are forecasted to close in the next 10 years, starting at the end of the 19th Assembly. There may be ways to extend the life of each of them, but their best days are probably done.

Mr. Speaker, there is no ready replacement for diamond mining and the benefits it provides. This is a...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for that. At the end of the day, how does the demand for funding for seniors, retrofits, and other kinds of housing initiatives compare with the demand for it? How does the demand line up with the money available? What is the gap between those two? Thank you.

I appreciate the Minister's wide-ranging answer, but, if he could provide some specific information about whether there are any projects that are in the hopper with funding attached to meet seniors' needs at this time, that is what I am after.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Seniors are the heart of my constituency and, through the next decade, their population will grow by 134 households in Yellowknife each year. The fact that the seniors population is growing is not news. Our lack of preparedness to meet their needs is today's headline.

The NWT Housing Corporation has a suite of programs for seniors to repair their homes and complete retrofits so they can stay in their homes as they age. That is all good, obviously. The problem is that, while the seniors population has been increasing, program funding has not. The same amount of money is...

No one could say that the Minister is not getting the information out there. Answering the questions, that is another story. Another means to ensure that seniors have appropriate housing in Yellowknife is to assist them with retrofitting their homes, and this is a very cost-effective solution, more cost-effective than providing a whole new place to live. The budget for the CARE program, as one example, for the whole of the NWT is only half a million dollars, so can the Minister tell us how many seniors' households were assisted with retrofits in the last fiscal year?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for NWT housing. As I said in my statement, there have been no new units for seniors built in Yellowknife during this Assembly, while, at the same time, the population of seniors has continued to grow rapidly. Can the Minister tell us what plans are in place with funding attached to meet those needs going forward? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is one of these unsung but very important, bills that would make a difference to the lives of many families in the Northwest Territories in a number of different ways, not only for families in extreme circumstances like those facing family violence, but just ordinary working families, especially given the shortage of childcare in the Northwest Territories. This could really be an important incentive to having families staying longer in the Northwest Territories, because they are able to stay at home with their children for a longer period of time, so I am pleased to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Section 10 of Bill 41 prohibits several forms of advertising of tobacco and vapour products, including a form of in-store sales promotion found near, on, or next to a checkout counter as a mechanism to influence a consumer's buying decision, commonly known as "point-of-sale" advertising.

JUUL Labs argued that Bill 41 should be amended to be less restrictive of the promotion and display of vapour products, both in the retail and non-retail context, so that smokers are aware of their products and more likely to switch to vaping. The company offered the following for...

Thank you to the Minister for that. I understand that the Minister recently initiated a foot patrol program around the centre. Can the Minister tell us about that program and share any early results of it?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my statement today, I spoke about the ways in which life is better downtown because of the new services offered to the population of intoxicated or homeless people who are there. Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, more can be done, starting with addressing the concerns of the neighbours of the sobering centre and the day shelter. During the last session, the Minister said he hoped he would have a good neighbour agreement in place by the end of June. I would appreciate an update. Mahsi.