Alfred Moses

The introduction of more HELP units into any community across the Northwest Territories is only considered if there is a demand for the program. Obviously NWT Housing Corporation would like to work with residents to get into home ownership or work with them to get into housing units, but the same is for market units, you know. We have nurses, we have teachers out there who need units to stay in, and we need to find balance. The introduction of any HELP units across the NWT would be considered if there was a demand for the program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I mentioned earlier, units are not profiled to another program unless it is confirmed that there is no demand for the unit under the original program, and that was the case.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to welcome Judy, as well, a constituent of Inuvik Boot Lake. Always good to see you here in the proceedings and supporting and giving good advice to our Member representing Inuvik Twin Lakes. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, access to housing continues to be one of the most serious issues for people in the Northwest Territories. Many new players are coming to the table with a new interest in addressing this need, and roles and responsibilities for housing delivery continue to change and evolve. Our government is committed to working with the other governments and housing stakeholders to implement Northern solutions for Northern housing to help address our high cost of living.

The federal government has come back on the scene with a potential long-term commitment under the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 23(2) of the NWT Housing Corporation Act, I wish to table the following document entitled "Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Annual Report 2017-2018." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The NWT Housing Corporation has gone through a significant change during the 17th and the 18th Legislative Assemblies. We have developed some great programs that are helping communities, that are helping families, and we are going to continue to promote those programs. I encourage communities, I encourage Members, I encourage residents to go and speak to their local housing office. Also go and speak with the regional district offices on low those programs can help and benefit a community. We have a lot of programs that are very successful.

Like I mentioned, we have gone through a change over...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When we look at the demand in our communities, we look at what the priorities are of the region. As I mentioned, over this session one of the initiatives that we are taking on as the Housing Corporation in working with the communities, as you heard in my Minister's statement earlier, is we are going to be developing these community housing plans and we are going to be working with leadership, we are going to be working with stakeholders to identify these.

In the situation and the questions that the Member has asked earlier, you know, we had to make some changes within...

The Member is correct. We are bringing two market rental duplexes, which equates to four units. These should be ready for occupancy hopefully by March of 2019.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, it would be inappropriate for me to discuss any specific application and information on our residents here, but if there is no program demand for a particular unit and it does remain vacant, the NWT Housing Corporation can re-profile a HELP unit into a market unit or vice versa. You can't turn a market unit into a HELP unit, but it would be inappropriate for me to discuss any specifics on any kind of application information. Like I said, if there is no program demand, then, we are able to re-profile those units. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, six community governments in the Northwest Territories had an election on October 15, 2018. These elections took place for all of our communities with city, town, or village status, including the city of Yellowknife; the towns of Hay River, Fort Smith, Norman Wells, and Inuvik; and the village of Fort Simpson.

There were 87 candidates in total, vying for 52 available seats. The large number of candidates shows that there was keen interest in the local level of government and that individuals want to serve as leaders and decision-makers for their community.

M...