Julie Green

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Minister's answer. One of the debates we had at the time that contract was going to go out was the relative advantages of module homes versus stick-built homes. Given what she has learned from this contract, does the Minister now have a preference for one kind of housing over the over? Thank you.

Mr. Chair, I move that this Assembly recommend that the Department of Health and Social Services partner with its fellow social envelope departments, community governments, and community organizations to develop a pilot program centred on ensuring that Northerners completing residential treatment are not discharged into homelessness but instead are connected with housing opportunities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for that response, to the Minister. I would just like to get a little more detail. So, of these 14 units that have or will be tendered out, what are the completion times on that?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will just build on the point that the chair of the standing committee made. Other immediate advantages to southern treatment include privacy where people are not among a group of people who they may live in the same community as or be related to, closely or not. They are able to have a certain amount of anonymity in these facilities. That seems to be something that they desire.

Secondly, the facilities have large capacities, so it is possible to get a bed for treatment almost immediately. There is no need to go on a waiting list and to wait months for a treatment option...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to salute the Yellowknife Day Care Association on the recent opening of their new and expanded facility on 52nd Street in the heart of Yellowknife Centre.

The association has been around since 1981, occupying the building on 51st Street that has at times been an RCMP detachment, a government office, and even a liquor store. The association got its eviction notice from ECE in 2016, along with an offer of support to find a new home. Work began on the development of an enlarged and purpose-built daycare with all the client care, programming, and safety...

One of the actions committed to in the response to the Office of the Auditor General's report was to develop a web-based fire training resource centre. Has that action been completed?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Office of the Auditor General in paragraph 63 of its report said that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs should take immediate action to reassess whether communities with fire departments meet the requirements under the Safety Act. Can the Minister report on progress under this recommendation? Thank you.

I'm working from memory here about the Office of the Auditor General report that was produced last year. It looked at things like water plant operators and training. It looked at waste disposal, and it looked at fire departments. What it found is that the fire departments are very ad hoc, that there is a need to standardize the operation of fire departments across the NWT. I have not yet heard the Minister talk about whether she is willing to undertake that work.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up those questions which I asked about the fire department in Norman Wells. My question is about whether the department is working on standards for fire departments across the Northwest Territories. I understand that that is not currently in place. Is the Minister taking steps to standardize fire department funding and operations across the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

I am failing to engage the Minister in any sense of urgency on this issue. My understanding is that this community is currently without fire protection. People are obviously worried about what would happen if there was a fire. They are also worried that their insurance may be invalid because there is no operating fire department. Can the Minister assure me that, when she leaves this Chamber, she will go and call the village of Norman Wells and find out how she can assist them to get their fire department back on track?