Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, November 1, 2010, I will move that Bill 18, An Act to Repeal the Settlements Act, be read for the first time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, November 1, 2010, I will move that Bill 15, An Act to Amend the Fire Prevention Act, be read for the first time.

Obviously it would be unwise for us as a corporation to not listen to what people of the Northwest Territories have to say as far as provision of housing goes. It would be unwise of us not to listen to what Regular Members have to say as far as the provision and delivery of housing programs across the Territories. The short answer is yes, we would talk to as many people across the Territories and keep updating the Regular Members on those consultations as they happen.

Mr. Chairman, it does allow us for earlier tendering. Then if there are expressions of interest out there for negotiated contracts early enough, then we can start the process a lot earlier using this process that we are in now. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, speaking territorial-wide, obviously we have heard of the situation with the one constituent which four months is an awful long time to wait or hear an answer on providing all the information that we have asked them to provide. Looking at it territorial-wide, obviously it is going to be a challenge.

With all the folks coming back to the LHOs now, getting their assessments done, there is a lot more of that face to face. They will have an opportunity to bring in some verification of income. That will be taken care of. The adjustments will be made. We will do our part as the Housing...

Yes, I would, Mr. Chairman.

We have heard that. We have taken the message to heart and we are planning on doing some contracts, particularly in the smaller communities, with just labour only and just putting the supply/ship, then we’ll have the labour as a separate contract.

The original question I thought the Member was referring to the transfer of the public housing delivery by, as I understood him, the Member means all things housing into the community, homeownership included. Obviously, again, as I said in my first response, it’s something that we would consider doing. If communities feel that they’re far enough along that they can effectively deliver housing programs in the community, then it’s obviously something that as a corporation we would have to obviously listen to.

Mr. Chairman, that would depend on some of the terms of the contract. There are many cases. There are some cases where there are cold weather clauses that kick in. If you are building in a particular type of year, obviously the cost is going to be higher. It is a cost that is the cost of doing business in winter when the construction season is a lot different. There will be costs. As to exactly how much, we wouldn’t be able to give that information to the Member until after these are completed or we make some progress on them, then we will have a fairly good idea of the actual cost of this. I...

Mr. Speaker, we don’t have a SWAT team in place. The Member said that this has been going on for four months now. Today is actually the first that I have heard of it. If I had some communication with the Member, I may have been able to follow up on it and make sure that the tenants in his riding don’t have to wait so long for an answer.

I make a commitment to the Member. If we can discuss this afterwards, I will forward the information on to the proper people and see if we can have this dealt with as quickly as possible. Thank you.