Robert C. McLeod

The Housing Corporation goes a long way into assisting homeownership clients through repairs and trying to get people into homes. We have some challenges that we face. There is a gap of people that we’re looking to try and capture. I’ve given instructions to the corporation to see if we can start capturing a lot of those people who are quite capable of looking after homes, but for one reason or another are not qualifying at the moment. There are a lot of programs designed for the seniors through the preventative maintenance, where they go in every fall to do the maintenance in their units...

Offhand, I’m not quite sure about a time limit. I could follow up on that and get back to the Member. I do know that when a unit is sitting vacant in a community for too long or what the community feels is too long, then the community or the Members will usually let us know that there are some vacant units in the community that haven’t been filled and then we’ll take steps to try and address that and come up with the way we can fill these units.

Mr. Speaker, if it is a matter of printing someone else’s legislation onto our paper and our letterhead, it is something that we try to stay away from, because we always say, and we have said in the past, that we need legislation that is built in the North, for the North. To go and copy other jurisdictions’ legislation, that’s something we wouldn’t look at. But I could commit to the Member that we can do some research and see if there’s a demand for this particular type of legislation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not aware of any policies that are out there, but there are some policies within the Housing Corporation where a one-year warranty usually comes for those that are constructing units for the corporation. The best advice that I can give is if the homeowner is entering into a contract with a builder, first of all make sure they are a legitimate builder and do the research on that and always make sure that you have a warranty built into the contract. If they refuse to put one in, then I would have to seriously consider signing on with that particular builder. Thank...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to go back to item 6 on the Order Paper. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek consent to proceed with second reading of Bill 11, An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to recognize Mr. Charlie Furlong up in the audience. Charlie has been doing some treatments for cancer and we’re happy to report that things are going really well and he’s cancer free. So we’re glad to hear that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we left the Chamber, I felt that I made no threatening gestures. There was a heated exchange as we all have exchanges here in the Chamber, some a little more animated than others. If the Member feels that he was threatened, it was not my intent. I apologize for it. But we have to understand that the work that we do, sometimes there are things that we disagree on. There are things that happen in this Chamber. I showed poor judgment. I should have just took it for what it was and walked away from it, but we do have a lot of exchanges here in the Chamber. We have...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Bill 11, An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on February 4, 2010, I will move that Bill 11, An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.