Thank you, Minister of ECC. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is good to hear Housing NWT will accept all recommendation made in housing audit. Mr. Speaker, I assume accepting recommendation means commitment as well. With that in mind, Mr. Speaker, many of my constituents have asked about the possibility of having ownership of their market rental unit transferred to them. Has Housing NWT conducted any assessments or consultation with residents in small communities to determine interest or readiness for ownership transfer of market rental units? And if not, will the Minister commit to initiating this engagement? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the last year, Housing NWT has conducted a territorial housing needs assessment going into community to look at the quantitative portion but also the qualitative portion of housing units. We also follow the unit condition rating, and we do assess the market and public housing unit stock within community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my region market rental unit, despite the condition of the unit, tenants are paying $1,900 monthly in rent. So I want to ask the Minister what step is Housing NWT taking to support homeownership in communities where private housing market are limited or nonexistent and how will the department ensure that Northerners in these areas are not left behind in housing policy decisions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. This question in her riding is a question in many other ridings because people want to be homeowners, they want to contribute to their household, and they want to stay in that community. So this is the conversation I'm having with housing, and I'm happy that the Office of the Auditor General raised this in their report because it provides us even more of an urgency to get this done. Homeownership program is going to have a fulsome review with Housing NWT and how we deliver that, and especially in small community, small and remote community, is really important. We need to provide them the same access to the ability to buy a home as any other larger centre. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when I’m speaking I'm not only speaking for my region, but I'm speaking for the rest of the Northwest Territories. So there's a lot of people that are in the same situation. I know that.
So with all the recommendation made -- or with accepting all the recommendation, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to exploring a policy that allows long-term tenants in market rental unit, especially in small communities with no housing market, to transition into homeownership through a formal transfer of ownership? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, again, a really important conversation that we're having at Housing NWT is how we're supporting small community, how we're supporting people to remain in their community and to live within their community and providing those supports, and I do commit to working with Housing NWT to provide a good, solid review of the homeownership program and how we can deliver positive results. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For my first set of questions, I want to ask the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Now, we know that a significant problem holding back the development of land and new housing in the city of Yellowknife, as well as broader economic opportunity, is the lack of an arrangement for timely and efficient transfer of Commissioner's land to the city of Yellowknife. The Minister mentioned earlier this sitting that there's a memorandum of collaboration in place with the city that allows this transfer to go ahead, but there remain a number of barriers that make it, practically speaking, impossible. So is the Minister pursuing targeted amendments to the Land Titles Act and related legislation that would simplify surveying requirements since this is currently a barrier that makes it prohibitively expensive? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of ECC.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, amendments to the Land Titles Act are not being considered by the Department of Justice for the remainder of this Assembly; however, we are working at the department and pursuing amendments to the Land Titles Act for the 21st Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I'd like to point out that the rules for transferring land from the Government of Canada to the GNWT are much simpler, and they still do require surveying, though, before municipal disposal. So what exactly is preventing the GNWT from using a similar model for when it transfers territorial land to municipalities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, devolution was a delegation of administration and control of Crown land from the federal government to the GNWT. Land administered by the GNWT is not titled to the GNWT but titled to the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, and that is federally appointed. Also, the GNWT is an arm of the Crown. A municipal government is not. And the devolution of administration and control authorities is not something the GNWT can further devolve. And I just wanted to point out as well that plans of survey are a functional requirement of the land title system, and that is mandated by federal legislation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of ECC. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So aside from legislative change, can the Minister commit to establishing a dedicated project manager within ECC to at least help coordinate interdepartmental and intergovernmental land transfer since even under the current rules, capacity constraints seem to be slowing down land transfer? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ECC has a dedicated senior land administrator for land transfers and given the demand for land, ECC is increasing its capacity in this area to support this important work. And I also wanted to mention that -- and I didn't mention in my first two answers, but consultation is a big part of this as well. We do have a consultation requirement in this process that I was remiss in not mentioning earlier. You know, this is consistent with the government -- our mandate to support land for housing, and I think we're working toward that. And prioritizing all land applications for housing is an initiative all across the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of ECC. Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Mr. Speaker, when my constituents, particularly in Fort Resolution, read this report on housing, they see their own struggles with their own local housing authority reflected in it. Now that their housing authority is under administration, can the Minister reinsure my constituents that positive change is coming to public housing in their community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I think the auditor general report, again, is a wake-up call, and I've committed to this call to action and moving forward, working with the local housing organizations and the district offices as well as headquarters to monitor and improve the housing conditions within community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Several of my constituents want to move from their public housing units in one community to a unit in another community. Currently, they must transfer out of the existing unit before they secure a new one, and this process is confusing and slow. Can the Minister commit to allowing public housing residents to secure a spot in another community first and then transfer them to that unit so they can access housing more quickly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that's a tough one. First of all, the local housing organizations have a community housing services agreement with Housing NWT so local housing organizations are the ones that manage the stock, the housing stock, at the local level, and many times they have, and probably all times, they have a residency requirement. So transferring from community to community when there's no housing within community to transfer to is a tough one. So there's many barriers. We can have a conversation, but I would leave this at the local housing organization level because we're not there, I'm not living it, I don't see the -- you know, many times what's happening at the local level. So that's why housing organizations are so important to have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Many of my constituents, particularly from Yellowknives Dene First Nation or Lutselk'e Dene First Nation, live in public housing here in Yellowknife. They face numerous challenges and they're often confused with the housing authority regarding their residency when they need to travel for work, go on the land, or return to their communities to care for elders. Could the Minister establish an Indigenous advocacy within the Yellowknife Housing Authority to represent these residents and address their unique challenges? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is the Indigenous advocate or the housing advocate -- because we need to be an advocate for all people in the Northwest Territories -- is something that was identified in the Office of the Auditor General report, and I've asked Housing NWT to provide me a response and a plan moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Upon reflection, I am going to try and ask a question to ECC a different way.
Mr. Speaker, what process does the GNWT follow to understand the fiscal capacity of a mining company? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of ECC.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, assessing the fiscal capacity of a company is certainly part of the process when a company comes into the field of mining; however, it is not a responsibility that falls directly to the GNWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of ECC. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What would a Wednesday be without a health question?
Mr. Speaker, I've inquired through the Minister's office -- so in general, this shouldn't be too much of a surprise -- with respect to an out of territory country claim submission. So that's basically a medical travel process. If you need an expense for a health reason while you're out of the country in short. I've asked for the guiding policy document that this form should buttress or explain or justify, and we seem to be running into problems, and the department sends me the application form, not the policy guiding document. So that said, Mr. Speaker, the question for the Minister of health, because it is Wednesday, which is does this policy guiding document actually exist that supports the application, yes or no? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have that level of detail. I'll have to get back to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is how would they operate without a policy document? The retired bureaucrat is at a policy walk and they're concerned about applying for things that they may or may not qualify based on best dollar for the government and reasonable services that could be extended. Would it be reasonable to assume there should be a policy document? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, at that level of detail I would have to get back to the Member.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked questions about late payments for SFA students. The Minister said that she will not pay them back even though we have a process for paying back income support late fees incurred on income support payments. Will the Minister work with her department to find what barriers exist to paying off these late fees so we can give our students a break? Thank you very much.
Thank you, Member for Range Lake. Minister of ECE.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's not an expectation that this would happen because it's not something that we account and fund for. I'm always happy to go back to the department and find out what kind of an economic cost this would have to our student financial assistance. That said, Mr. Speaker, it is not expected that student financial assistance covers the entire cost of post-secondary for our students. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I'm not asking for them to pay the entire cost. I'm asking them to pay for late fees incurred because of departmental holdups because they couldn't process these payments. This is an extraordinary occurrence. Will the Minister take extraordinary action and pay these students for their late fees? It's a very simple question, and it shouldn't be this controversial. We don't need a lot of policy change. Do the right thing; help our students out. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the answer to my first question I did say I'm always happy to go back to the department. And what I'm saying here, Mr. Speaker, is that it is expected that students have, from their summer student jobs, some dollars that they can afford to pay their tuition and then student financial assistance comes back and supports them. This is not a regular occurrence. The Member is absolutely right. And I am doing what I can to ensure that we are following up and making sure that processes are as efficient as possible. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ECE. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
