Robert Villeneuve

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Can the Minister just tell me, is it just due to the lack of resources that we don’t continue to pursue...Some of these debts are pretty big. Is it just because of human resources reasons that we don’t do that? Is it the workload? What are the reasons that we don’t continue to collect? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation.

Under the sale of the public housing initiative, how many units have been sold to public housing clients over the past three years?

Under the sale of public housing initiative, how many units which have been sold have been repossessed or have outstanding arrears owed to the government?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s good. That’s good news, I think. At least they are reviewing this policy, which has been under a lot of scrutiny for a number of years. I just don’t think that it has worked and it’s definitely not working today, especially in the small communities where public housing accommodates a large majority of the communities. I just want to ask the Minister, when can we expect perhaps a draft of the changes or some recommendations, or how far are we along with seeing some substantive change? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would just like to talk about the community co-management agreement that the government, Municipal and Community Affairs, signed with the Deninu Kue Community Council two years ago. Mr. Speaker, this agreement has definitely lead to better financial management and better financial stability of the municipality as a whole. I commend the government on that, which was the true intention of the agreement in the first place, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, what has been overlooked, I feel, is the human resource aspect of this agreement. What I would like to see...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just for my own understanding, are we following a court order from the province of B.C. in writing off this debt? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, you know, the rent scale policy that we have today was developed 10-plus years ago, with good intentions, I'm sure, but obviously today it doesn't work. It doesn't work for communities; it doesn't work for individuals; and it doesn't work in our employment economy here today. I guess just what my colleague Mrs. Groenewegen from Hay River South was talking about, the frustration of having people to have to verify their income on a monthly basis to the LHOs which, in turn, work with ECE to provide the subsidy or what rent they're going to charge them on. But should people not...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker and colleagues. Mr. Speaker, the next Health and Social Services Authority board meeting will be held in Fort Resolution this Monday on October 23rd. I encourage the Minister to direct board members to provide some assurances that it is working to address these matters and provide timelines, deadlines and recommendations from the two reports that have been drafted since March 2006 that hopefully will address and rectify problems in this area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today I just want to talk about the great elders’ facility in Deninu Kue. Currently, there are no elders living in the main building that is designed to accommodate up to four residents or elders. The community is well aware that this facility is not a long-term care facility, but they do support the options proposed in the review of the memorandum of understanding and the possibility of the reprofiling of a facility to better meet the needs of the community.

Mr. Speaker, the issues brought to the Minister’s attention about the proposed uses of the facility are not issues...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I am not going to reiterate all of what other Members have spoken about. I am sure the message is clear that this side of the House is pretty unified in support of this motion. I will reserve my judgment for when it’s time to vote anyway. That’s not to say that I, in any form or fashion, condone the behaviour that was displayed in the House yesterday. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t take more time to discuss this issue, some possible options for ramifications for something like that. It’s unfortunate that we have to call for measures this extreme, especially this late in...

Mr. Speaker, why did I waste my time even mentioning to the ECE then? Why didn't the Minister of Housing stand up…

---Laughter

…and answer those questions with regard to the rent scale policy, because that's what I was asking about. I wasn't asking about the…