Statements in Debates
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is based on the annual assessment of need right across the territory, and in the Member's riding, we have identified a couple of market rental units, and we will have discussions moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Just kind of general overview, when we look at our capital planning process, we do look at our public housing stock. Once they get over the age of 40 years old, we look at replacing them, and then we also do some M and I, which is modernization and improvement, when the units reach the age of 20 and 35 years old.
Other factors that we consider are unit condition rating and the operating performance of the units. Just in general, any questions that come on how the capital planning process is selected, that is how we identify them. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the Member’s comments. Obviously, we will work with all of our departments. When the funding was allocated, we got our share of the LCEF funding. We will always push to try to get more money. I think this announcement that we are going to hopefully be saying soon will help alleviate a lot of the infrastructure needs that we see in our communities. Looking forward to making that announcement. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my left is Tom Williams, president and CEO of the NWT Housing Corporation, and on my right is Mr. Jim Martin, vice president, finance and infrastructure for the NWT Housing Corporation. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the Member's concerns. As I mentioned, when we do put the capital planning forward, there are a few factors that we do take into consideration right across the Northwest Territories, as I mentioned them earlier at the start of questioning. Looking forward to Hay River, there could be potential partnerships through the Co-Investment Fund, which I have discussed and the Member has asked me questions in the House about, and working with industry to address those concerns. I do appreciate the Member’s concerns around the municipality of Hay River. Thank you.
Yes, I can take a look at that. We do want our tenants and our residents of the Northwest Territories to be a little bit more energy efficient in how they conserve energy in their units. Obviously, some of our communities only have a set number of fuel. We want to make sure that we can continue to support and make sure our communities have the adequate fuel sources to keep their houses warm, especially during the winter months. We definitely can take a look at that.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As the Member alluded to earlier about this bilateral agreement, I am anxious myself. We are just working out the details, and I can confirm with the Member that there will be new dollars with the signing of that bilateral agreement. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently, the NWT Housing Corporation is not planning to address the subsidized public housing rent scale. We are going to continue with this program as a user-pay power program. As I mentioned yesterday, we have seen a decrease of about eight percent in consumption, which means that tenants are actually taking responsibility. They are conserving more energy. It is a good program. We are seeing some good results. At this time, we are not planning to adjust the subsidized public housing rent scale. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. By putting these new units, it will help alleviate some of the overcrowding. We don't know the full details or the data of how many people are living in overcrowded houses, but we do know that it is an issue, and we are trying to address it in various ways.
We are also working with the private sector with their investments, looking at building multi-family units and looking at other ways that we can just address the issue. Obviously, we are also looking at a homelessness initiative and other programs within the Housing Corporation. That's about it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
One of the things that we are doing within the NWT Housing Corporation is going through a strategic renewal to identify some of our priorities, look at our policies, and what needs to be changed to make it easier and better for people to either own a home or get into public housing.
As I mentioned, the community housing plans are going to help us identify those, because we will be working with leaders and the people in the communities for them to tell us what they need, and I think that is a big step.
For transitional housing, I know that is an issue right across the NWT, and we want to address...