David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to inform this House that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation have reached agreement on an extension of the Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program, better known as RRAP, for another year. Through RRAP, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is able to repair northerner's homes to meet acceptable levels of health and safety.

Through this partnership, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation will complete $460,000 in home repairs during 2006-2007. Through RRAP, the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are still in discussions with the Mackenzie Gas Pipeline Group with regard to the social impact benefits that we are trying to get as a government. More importantly, we also have to include the federal government by way of CMHC and see how we can get federal contributions to this project in order to make it viable. We also need the federal commitment. Those discussions are ongoing. There is a meeting coming up next week. At some point we will have to sit down and evaluate where we are at, making sure we have parties onside before we can proceed. Right...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in light of the situation, we do have to look at this policy. If that’s what the Member would like is for us to suspend this policy over the period of time…I think you have to realize that this is only unique to market. We are not seeing this problem in non-market communities. To be fair to those communities that are non-market communities, I will agree to suspend the policy in market communities to ensure that this practice does not go on.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, under the existing process we’re going through now, the Housing Corporation is now responsible for basically collecting rent for the units based on a cost recovery basis. The subsidy portion now comes to Education, Culture and Employment in regards to how people will be subsidized for the portion of those rents that they will have to either pay themselves or receive a subsidy to top off what that rent is going to be. Now it’s our responsibility, as a corporation, to get full cost recovery for the cost to operate those units from the clients that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the responsibility that we have, which basically has been shifted in regards to the subsidy that we now provide to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to cover off the O and M costs of those seniors' facilities. So right now we’re basically charging Education, Culture and Employment for the cost of those seniors’ facilities for units, but before we used to be covered off by way of a subsidy. So the cost of that subsidy, basically the arrangement has changed, as everybody knows, that basically the Department of Education, Culture and...

Mr. Speaker, again, Mr. Speaker, we have not made a decision to basically have seniors in public housing pay rent at this time. But the reason I’m saying at this time is because presently we are doing a review in regards to the income security review that’s going on in the programs we have in the Northwest Territories. Right now there’s about $100 million that’s being given out by way of some subsidy or another. Again, right now those dollars are being allocated to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment in which we’re going to ensure that we have a system in place that is fair to...

Mr. Speaker, I'll answer the last one first and go forward. The land that this project is sitting on is land that is owned by the Housing Corporation. We are contributing to this project. In regards to the numbers of units, again we are working along with the Seniors' Society in which they are also going to be putting money into this project, and also working with the community of Hay River to try to get some money through the capacity funding. But also through CMHC again, they are also involved. So at this time, we are working in conjunction with the three agencies to be able to deliver...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the seniors and public housing initiative will continue on at the present time. It’s a policy of the government. Again, the policy clearly states that people who live in public housing will not have to pay rent. There is another process that is going on with regard to reviewing the income security review. That now falls within the domain of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. We have decided to centralize our social funding responsibilities and try to ensure that it is a fair distribution of money. Right now the policy is there and the...

Mr. Speaker, as I stated, we are reviewing it through the review of our income security programs. Right now, as a government, we have decided, as Members of this House and as this government, that we are centralizing the programs that we deliver to find a fair mechanism to all people regardless if they live in their own home or are in social housing. Because of the inequities of our programs and services, we want to ensure that everybody is treated fairly. So we are presently going through that process. Once basically there is a review done, the Minister of Education will be coming back to...

Mr. Speaker, these units are for seniors in Hay River who basically have low incomes. This is going to be similar to public housing that we provide the seniors at the present time. I know there were concerns in regard to condos and whatnot that were in the mix. That is no longer part of this scenario, so we are only focussing on low income seniors to provide social housing for seniors in Hay River. Thank you.