Sandy Lee

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This has been in the books for a very long time and I guess if the study is going to be done at the end of November, we have to wait for this. But I’m concerned that the Minister has not indicated enough commitment to seeing the results of the study being implemented. Mr. Speaker, I think the Minister is well aware that YACCS is not looking for capital funding, it’s not looking for a handout, it’s only looking for the commitment from the government to pay for the operating costs that the government would otherwise have to do anyway. So would the Minister, if there...

Mr. Speaker, a 2002 feasibility and market research study commissioned by the YACCS has shown very clearly that there is huge need for senior housing in Yellowknife, because there are a lot more people now retiring in Yellowknife and that’s a good thing and the government should welcome that and accommodate essential needs of seniors.

Mr. Speaker, I could tell you that there are Avens independent courts in the middle of Yellowknife, there are 24 units and last year there was a zero turnover rate in that 24-unit complex. This year there was one, and there is a waiting list of 10. Clearly, at...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m talking about the importance of a government department like the Housing Corporation in its effort to provide affordable housing in an efficient way, an economical way and that’s…(inaudible)…but I’m saying, Mr. Speaker, and I am saying to the Minister and the entire government that they can’t be trying to achieve that by breaking their own policies willingly. I think I’ve made my point there, Mr. Speaker.

Another point I want to make, and that’s going back to the seniors’ housing, the goals and objectives that the YACCS has cannot be met with only the help of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for correcting those errors. I have two sets of written questions. The first one is to the Honourable David Krutko, Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.

How much money was budgeted and has been spent out of the budget approved for the market housing initiative as of October 15, 2004?

Describe the work along with the dollar amounts for which the Business Incentive Policy was waived and for which the BIP was applied in this initiative, respectively.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 312-15(3): Treatment Of Contractors In Market Housing Initiative

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So could the Minister clarify exactly who, where, what subcontractors was BIP applied to? He indicated earlier that he wanted to make sure that 50 percent of the business stayed in the North, so they were entitled to BIP. But apparently the business that puts mobile homes together in Yellowknife, the Housing Corporation can’t afford. So I want to know exactly who got the benefit of BIP. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Perhaps the Minister was not privy to this, but, in the midst of this debate in March, there were at least two NWT business people who do this for a living, who build up trailers. They could do it with their eyes closed. They were not even allowed to bid because the department insisted on going with the Edmonton firm. Would the Minister now look at the local businesses that can do the job and deliver them on time? Would he do that, Mr. Speaker?

Mr. Speaker, my question is if the Housing Corporation can’t do any of these areas, power hook-up, gravel, lots, I think those are pretty essential items of building a house. If the Housing Corporation can’t do that, how can we have confidence that they can carry on with the other phases of this marketing initiative program?

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are to the Minister of Housing. It is in regards to the market housing initiative. I have been thinking and reread the notes of Hansard yesterday. I must tell you, Mr. Speaker, it is a complete outrage that, in last March, the government told us that the sky will fall if we do not waive BIP and if we do not order 22 mobile homes from somewhere in southern Alberta, Las Vegas 1-800 number, because we had to house the teachers and nurses. The Minister tells us yesterday that only 14 have been taken and they have no idea what went wrong...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I need to know where the 59 percent that stayed in the North are located. Are they all in the communities, or is any of it in Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.