Julie Green

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the Minister could tell us whether he is looking at contracting a nonprofit to deliver the services of the sobering centre or whether that will be done by departmental staff? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I know the Minister was at the launch of the Downtown Road Map report last week and that he's been a supporter of its development. It's my understanding that the investment in services for intoxicated people falls to his department. Could the Minister confirm that the 11 priorities in the report are his priorities? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, those of us who live downtown in Yellowknife have witnessed how dramatically it's changed in the last few years. I've received numerous complaints from residents who find the downtown a more challenging place to live because of a growing population of people who are homeless and/or intoxicated. According to a City of Yellowknife report, the use of emergency shelters increased 14 per cent in just one year, 2015. The RCMP decision not to take intoxicated people into custody just because they are intoxicated has produced a 30 per cent increase in ambulance rides...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that answer. What I was trying to get to was that there was some evidence base to the allocation of retrofit dollars among the various needs of the housing authority. It is good to know that there is an evidence base to that. I think it would be useful to include a little bit of an explanation of what that evidence is in this capital plan in years going forward. That is a comment. I don't have any other questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'm now on page 71. I'm looking at the second line from the bottom, that says 103 units will be retrofitted this year. I'm wondering how the NWT housing survey was used to determine that 103 units need retrofitting. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the witness has said that the Housing Corporation considers core need but other factors, so could he confirm that age and condition are factors that are in addition and outside of core need, or does he mean something else? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't have the housing survey in front of me, so I just remember that their core need number was in the high 40s. Is the witness then saying that most of that core need is that the houses are too small rather than the houses are in need of repair? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is no question among the people on this side of the House that money invested in early childhood development yields fantastic returns. We want people to have good school readiness, to graduate from high school, to attain the skills they need to realize their full potential, whatever that looks like for them. We want them to have as many opportunities as possible.

Mr. Speaker, junior kindergarten is not the only way to achieve this goal. There are other ways, and I've mentioned some of them. Aboriginal Head Start is one that has a proven track record and is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Whereas the Department of Education, Culture and Employment confirmed plans to introduce junior kindergarten in all 49 NWT schools in the fall of 2017;

AND WHEREAS the goal of junior kindergarten is to promote the development and school readiness of four year olds with free programming;

AND WHEREAS, the importance of early childhood development is a value shared by professional and licensed programs across the territory;

AND WHEREAS, early development instrument testing reveals the greatest need for readiness exists in our smallest communities and these communities often...

Mr. Speaker, the Office of the Auditor General identified the problem within MACA itself, not within the communities. I'm aware of the New Deal program but it seems to me that it is, in fact, a paperwork problem; it's providing oversight and looking at reports and validating them and so on. So what kind of resources does the Minister need to bring the department up-to-speed on implementing the New Deal?