Kevin O'Reilly

I am not suggesting that the Minister only look at this document, but it is a fantastic review of how it is done in other jurisdictions. It even has an appendix with the proposed wording that could be used to adopt right into our City, Towns and Villages Act. So I guess what I am suggesting here is there is an opportunity fast track this amendment, a very simple one, so can the Minister, though, tell us when we would be seeing a legislative proposal to make this happen?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to make it clear to the public, then, the reduction strategy, or the fiscal strategy, of Cabinet is driving down the contribution to the Housing Corporation by $1.3 million. I do not agree with that, and I just wanted to get it on the record. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. In my Member's statement, I made reference to the Pembina Institute Report, "Loans for Heat: Towards a Yellowknife Energy Savings Program." Is the Minister aware of this report and are her staff using it as a basis for developing changes to the City, Towns and Villages Act to allow for the use of local improvement charges for energy efficiency? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are looking at the GNWT contribution line here. Last year, it was $81,702,000. The proposal for next year is $74,943,000. Can the Minister explain that reduction? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that. The $783,000 sounds like a lot of money. There might have been other money that had been spread out over three years. Is there some kind of a report, a formal evaluation of the project and the money that was spent? Is that something that could be shared with the Regular MLAs? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’m try to be kind here, but just because the feds are backing out of funding our programs, it is not necessarily an excuse for us to pull the plug on them. I will just leave my comment at that.

I want to go down to a different line, rental housing in rural and remote locations. Last year, it was $783,000. This year, zero. Perhaps I can get an explanation of that one as well? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am looking at page 359. There are a couple of reductions on this page that I would like to better understand. Let's start with transitional supportive housing. The revised estimates for last year were $600,000. Now it is down to $375,000, so can the Minister explain the reduction here? Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I really sincerely thank the Minister and her staff then for pushing that along. She knows that I've been urging her: that's the sort of document you should be taking to Ottawa. I know you've got to work closely with the Yukon and Nunavut governments, but that's the kind of proposal that should be taken to Ottawa. We've taken enough road proposals to Ottawa; now let's start talking about people.

So does the Minister intend to table this in the House before the end of the session? Is that the plan? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think that is all I have got for that page. Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am looking at page 225, and it is the utilities line, the last line in the top section. There is about a $2 million drop there between last year and this year. I am just wondering whether someone from the department can explain that? If that is as a result of energy retrofits, boy, we are really saving a lot of money, but I don't think that is the case, Mr. Chair. Thank you.