Robert Villeneuve

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My question today is to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment just to talk about the public housing rental subsidies that are going to be coming into effect April 1, 2006. I just wanted to ask the Minister, now that the clients have to apply on a month-by-month basis for this housing subsidy with their income support worker and bring it to the LHO, how is that going to change the income security officers' working relationship with the clients that are applying for housing subsidies. Is that going to affect any of that interpersonal relationship with the...

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. I don’t want to reiterate a lot of the concerns that a lot of Members have already raised, and I am sure the Minister has heard them all before in committee, but I just want to talk about the $10 million for the upgrades and the $4.9 million for emergency, seniors and disabled housing. It’s great to see that there is a little bit of increases going into these areas and that these programs are actually in place, but I just wanted to remind the Minister again, I am sure you heard it in many instances, a lot of emergency repairs and a lot of upgrades and a lot of senior repairs...

Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. I just want to welcome the Minister and it’s good to see Jeff and Fred again. It’s funny that the Minister, in his last sentence, said these are the same issues he has been hearing for 10 years. That just drives home one of the points that all Members have been raising today with the Housing Corporation. There are many issues and outstanding housing concerns that are just so long ongoing that the regional staff or the headquarters staff have pretty much earmarked these ones, flagged them and just put them in a file in a box in the closet or something and hopefully they...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I'm just trying to figure out, people that are in public housing are usually in unstable situations, Mr. Speaker, and I think anybody that's in public housing considered stable is somebody who's unemployed permanently and never wants to work and only wants to pay the $32 a month. That's my picture of somebody being stable in public housing. But I just want to ask the Minister if their housing subsidy application is not filed, what are their options? Say the income support worker couldn't make it into the communities. She fell ill or something and she missed...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know that, later on today, we will be reviewing the NWT Housing Corporation’s budget in detail. I would just like to make a few comments about the housing situation and, in particular, my constituency of Tu Nedhe. In general, many of my constituents still have some long-outstanding housing issues that they simply refused to let this department sweep under the rug. These situations and predicaments have hindered improvements to lifestyles, cause undo hardship and resulted in many family breakdowns within my constituency.

Mr. Speaker, these things the...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my statement today will be about this government's growing public service again. Mr. Speaker, I know this public service has many people who do very good work and are dedicated to making improvements in the lives of many northerners, be it in our large or small centres. Sadly though, Mr. Speaker, I can also stipulate with conviction that there are many who just don't give a hoot.

Some of the main reasons why I raise this issue is because of the many calls I receive from many of the smaller communities. Issues such as long-outstanding land issues; issues of...

Mr. Speaker, I seek the House's permission to return to item 7, written questions.

Mahsi, Members. I have a written question for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

Is there a 24-hour suicide helpline available for all communities in the NWT?

Are professionals available on a 24-hour basis for people who are suffering from mental illness or severe depression? Are doctors available to answer these distress calls?

Do people in our remote communities, who cannot and will not discuss their mental problems with their community health workers or use the helpline, have other options available that the Department of Health and Social Services can offer?

If so, is there...

Again, I want to recognize my mother in the gallery as a Native Women’s Association of the NWT. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to raise a similar issue to what I did yesterday in my statement about the dogmatic, out-of-touch, yet sumptuous bureaucratic system located in Yellowknife, and why this 15th Assembly has to seriously consider restructuring and perhaps downsizing by way of decentralizing or relocating various components so that we can all say with confidence that our Legislative Assembly is actually in control and can change and influence its own bureaucratic bulldog.

Mr. Speaker, I feel that we are losing ground on retaining this control of this once reputable and...