Sandy Lee

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I just want to state that I think that we have to be fully mindful of the fact that we are dealing with the public expectations and our responsibility to the public. I don’t believe this is now limited to what happened in the Legion. It is not a Legion issue. It is an issue that goes to the general public. Mr. Speaker, I don’t believe the public who knows about this -- and there are a lot of people in the public who knows about what happened -- are satisfied with the Premier and Members around this House exchanging letters. I think the public expects us to do more...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I believe it is a very good thing that more and more senior citizens, especially in Yellowknife, are choosing to retire in the North. I believe that they add to the wholeness of our society, and make us more complete. Next week following the session is Senior Citizens’ Week, and I am going to put the Minister responsible for Seniors, Minister Miltenberger, on notice, and Cabinet, that I am going to make the senior issues -- and there are many of them -- a sort of a theme topic for me to pursue during this short session. Thank you...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have things so well for the seniors, maybe we could just pack up and go home since everything has been dealt with. Surely we know that’s not the case. Mr. Speaker, I believe most of the programs that the Minister has indicated are in the amounts of hundreds of dollars here, hundreds of dollars there, fixing this and fixing that. I do believe that the Minister has to agree that there are no programs currently that would help seniors to get into a low-cost unit for those who have fixed pension income or some sort of income. It’s a nest egg, but it’s probably too large...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my statement earlier, I would like to ask questions to the Minister responsible for Seniors, Minister Miltenberger. Obviously there are many issues pertaining to seniors that one can address in this House, but I would like to start with the housing needs. There is quite a bit of backup with respect to seniors’ housing. We have a lack of facilities for those who are suffering from dementia and they are currently being placed at the hospital, which costs a lot more on a day-to-day basis than if we were to have a separate facility to house the health and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a legislator, I believe in the principle that the performance of a government is measured by how well we take care of the most vulnerable in our society. One of the most vulnerable I believe are our seniors, Mr. Speaker, and I am glad to see two distinguished seniors, Ed Jeske and Esther Braden, in the gallery.

Mr. Speaker, I must tell you that our seniors need the help of this government to deal with the housing crisis. In Yellowknife in particular, Mr. Speaker, our housing market is on a runaway train. The lack of supply to meet overwhelming demands...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I could tell the Minister that the last time I checked, about a month ago, there were at least six seniors waiting for low cost, not social housing, but low rent housing in the Northern United Place. There are dozens of people waiting for housing in Aven Manor. That tells me there are over 20. Even if there are 10 new units being built in Yellowknife, that would only meet half of the need. I think there is a way to solve this without government actually building senior citizens’ housing. There is a partnership that can be done with the government and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My supplementary question is also to Minister Miltenberger in his responsibility for senior citizens, but I understand this has also to do with the Housing Minister. Mr. Speaker, we have needs for the seniors in terms of those who are suffering from dementia and who have special needs, but also seniors who can function quite independently but for financial or physical needs are not able to be in the marketplace. Does the Minister, as the Minister responsible for Seniors, have any idea to see what the needs are for seniors in terms of their differing housing needs?...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister bring to the table, as Minister responsible for the policy as well as maximizing economic benefits for the money that government spends, information that would counterbalance the apparent saving that we are going to get from buying from a factory in Edmonton, such as the taxes we are going to get, the consumer spending, the contributions that the businesses make, the transfer payments we get from Ottawa? Would the Minister get his people to crunch numbers and do a real cost benefit analysis rather than going for the cheapest? Thank you...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would much prefer action from the Ministers rather than gratitude. There is something strange that happens in this House. When the Cabinet Ministers get elected they are inflicted instantly with a case of amnesia.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Bell doesn’t have to do a year of study. He knows all of the issues inside out, upside down pertaining to this. He talked about this. And you know what? He doesn’t need a year of registry study, he could just go out there and talk to the people. I know he got a call this morning, I got a call from a business in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, my colleagues. Mr. Speaker, yesterday we finally received the package from the Housing Corporation about how cheap they can buy 22 mobile homes at factory cost from down south. Well, Mr. Speaker, I could have done that. I could have just called the number and got the costs. I would certainly expect that Cabinet will make decisions like this on the basis of more comprehensive information and cost-benefit analysis.

Just yesterday we approved the government budget and RWED got $83 million and PYs of 480 people. I know that somewhere in there that department has...