Michael McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. People in social housing who are paying the high end of the rent scale are people who I hear about who want to get into EDAP, but they can’t because they make too much. Now we are talking about starting a whole new subsidy program, another layer of public housing. So it doesn’t seem that that is the group this is geared for. I will ask my final question again; will this affect the other programs that the Housing Corporation offers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Minister missed a few of my questions. I asked how much of the $32 million is going towards this program and if it was affecting the other programs the Housing Corporation runs. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Like my colleagues, I have concerns with Novel, too. I think it’s a good concept, but I think the Housing Corporation should have been working with ITI and MACA trying to come up with a good plan and Housing can look after the technical part of it. However, my questions are with regard to the Supported Lease Program. I notice there is 112 units in the Minister’s opening statement towards the Supported Lease Program. I would like the Minister to explain what the program is and which group of clients it’s aimed at. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Many of the first clients of the NWT Housing Corporation’s programs are now senior citizens. They no longer require the three or four-bedroom houses they had built for their young families. However, these people now find themselves unable to access any of the services of the corporation, because of the one house in a lifetime policy.

The committee is of the opinion that the corporation would be able to free up houses for the private market if it were to provide smaller housing packages/construction services or possible bridge financing for those elders who no longer...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The new department, based on previous numbers, would have a budget of approximately $90 million. That would go a long way to providing safe, adequate, and affordable housing. The CMHC funding is going to sunset over the next 30 years, meaning that the reason for keeping the NWT structure may no longer be needed. Would the Premier commit to taking this into consideration in creating a new department of housing whose sole mandate would be to provide safe, adequate, and affordable housing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, before we can say yes or no, or I respond to the community’s request, we’d have to see a lot more detail. We are quite interested to sit down and talk to communities. Other communities have come forward and demonstrated that there is a cost savings of having some of the money fast-tracked into a one-year period where we would save on the mobilizations cost and also the demobilization. So we’d be very interested to sit down with them. Whatever we can arrange through a meeting with the community along with the Member, I’d be glad to sit down and have that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, we’d be interested in sitting down with the community of Nahanni Butte to talk about the proposal for the public access road to the community. It’s something we’re in discussions with in the case of other communities, so we’d, of course, be glad to sit down and discuss this with them also. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the NWT Housing Corporation was established in the early 1970s to provide safe, adequate, and affordable housing to the residents of the Northwest Territories. Somewhere along the line, Mr. Speaker, they began to lose sight of the very reason for their existence. Providing housing, Mr. Speaker, is no easy task, as we found out during our pre-budget tour. Everyone has an opinion on the state of housing.

With the amount of complaints on housing, that has to tell us, Mr. Speaker, that something is seriously wrong with the direction that the NWT Housing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 14, Public Airports Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

So $19.9 million. That answers one question. The second question was, is this going to affect the other programs the Housing Corporation runs because it’s another subsidy? I am all for people getting into their own homes, but if you know you can’t maintain a home, it just seems to be one program set up after another. EDAP, as far as I am concerned, is a pretty good program where people will go to the bank and get the money. If you know you can’t maintain the home, why bother going to apply? The Housing Corporation is going to recoup some of their money out of this instead of just providing...