Tom Beaulieu

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize James Marlowe and his son River in the gallery. Also, I would like to recognize the interpreters from my riding, Mary Rose Sundberg and Dennis Drygeese, and the two pages from the Kalemi Dene School, David John Drygeese Jr. and Victoria Beaulieu. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just one quick comment. With the way Housing Corporation describes the sale of public housing, I think they will sell like pancakes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker [English translation not provided] Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Last November I spoke about the community of Rocher River and the people of the Taltson River. I mentioned a dam that was built after the federal government refused to rebuild the school that had burnt down.

The people of Rocher would say that the loss of the school in 1959 and the federal government's push to move everyone to Fort Resolution made it possible to build the Taltson River dam without any real opposition. Only the chief of the day told the government that he was in opposition to the dam....

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, just so I understand this clearly, there is no requirement for an individual buying a public housing unit to go to the bank to borrow their share, that their share can actually now be a rent-to-purchase, so the Housing Corporation will come along, say you are a good tenant; you paid rent for the last 20 years without missing rent payments. We are going to sell this house to you. First thing we are going to do is we are going to reduce the cost of the house by 48 per cent. The second thing we are going to do is we are going to take the 52 per cent and we...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I'm just looking for a bit of clarification. I'm going to just indicate what I think PATH is going to try to do.

So when a public housing unit is determined for sale and the tenant in that public housing unit has an opportunity to buy it and the house is valued at $100,000 and the corporation makes a decision to apply PATH, and the person is making under a certain amount so that the tenants get 48 per cent of the cost of the house, so one house worth $100,000 would be $48,000. I'm wondering if that $48,000 is budgeted or if it's just a reduction on what...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, earlier the Minister talked about a user-pay program. I was wondering if that would have any direct impact on the actual rents. It would seem that, at the first look, the power bills are fairly significant across many of our communities, and I was wondering if, once the NWT Housing Corporation moves that cost from their books to the tenant, that tenant will pay less rent according to how much more power they are required to pay. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the Minister how many apprentices the housing associations have and if they are getting any support from another department to pay for the salaries of the apprentices? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, committee wishes to consider Tabled Document 26118(2): Northwest Territories Main Estimates, 20172018, and committee wishes to consider the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation and the Department of Lands. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I was wondering if the Minister could advise the House when the current water licence for the Taltson River dam will be expiring?

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I talked about the Taltson River dam on the Taltson River. When the dam was built in the early 1960s, or maybe mid1960s, there were no public studies, consultations, or attempts to build relations with the people of Taltson River. Would the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation please describe the planning and consultation that would have to take place if the dam was proposed today? Thank you.