Julie Green

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the NWT Housing Corporation. In the past, the Minister has stressed the belief that home ownership is the way for people to get housed without relying on public housing and to free up units for those who need them. Yet, with only 20 Yellowknife families taking up the offer of assisted home ownership in the last 10 years, this faith seems to be a little misplaced. Will the Minister now re-examine the home ownership program and find out how to increase the uptake? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My follow-up question is whether the Minister will be able to share that evaluation criteria, and at what point the program will be evaluated using it? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Lydia Bardak, who is an advocate for people who live in need, and who is my constituent, and Nalini Naidoo, the economic development director for the city, who is sitting there, as well. She is also my constituent. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. May I take that as a commitment that the Minister will undertake that examination? Thank you.

Thank you. Could the Minister please outline, then, the program that will be undertaken by the John Howard Society? Is it the one that he most recently discussed with us, which is basically a group counselling program? Thank you.

Thank you. Do I understand that the John Howard Society will require the same qualifications of counsellors as in the original RFP? Thank you.

No.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I will have a number of questions for the Minister about this new contracting relationship based on the fact that this is a non-profit organization that has not been a service provider of this kind in the past, and so I will have questions that relate to the qualifications of this service provider to provide the A New Day program.

I am also interested in finding out whether there have been changes to the RFP that was put out earlier and what those changes might be. I will also have some questions about attracting clients who are not offenders to the program. Of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is good news from the Minister. I finally want to talk about the federal budget in March. Ottawa announced a transfer of $36 million to the NWT over 10 years to provide for more housing. That compares to $240 million over 10 years in Nunavut. Why did we end up with the short end of the stick from Ottawa on housing? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am going to refer to the memorandum of understanding that was agreed between the Northwest Territories Teachers' Association and the Government of the Northwest Territories on Strengthening Teacher Instructional Practise, and I am going to quote a segment of the MOU here. It says, and I quote, "During the life of this collective agreement, the association and the employer agree to work together to explore a range of evidence-based possibilities that may have a positive impact on teacher effectiveness and improved student outcomes. This could include changes...