Caroline Cochrane

The appointment of the executive director is not under my authority. I only delegate the board of directors. In discussing the position with the board of directors, they have informed me that they have completed interviews and they have found a successful candidate. I can't state when they are going to be starting their position, but I do know that they have selected a new executive director. We are all looking forward to the changes that this new person will bring.

The first step for any resident who has a problem with their municipal, Aboriginal, or designated authority is to ask if they can speak to the council. They are public bodies. They are responsible to their residents as public entities. People are allowed to go and present to the council. At a last recourse, if that does not work and the resident is still not satisfied, they have measures through the court of law. If they feel that the council has broken a bylaw and it has impacted them and they can't find a successful resolution, then they can take it to court. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Most definitely. With every new council that takes place, we do an orientation. The interpretation and the right understanding of the bylaws is critical in that. That is the main function of community government. We do spend time with them. We try to help them understand both how to develop bylaws and how to interpret them.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to recognize in the gallery members of the NWT Status of Women Council. We have the president, Ms. Violet Camsell-Blondin, Martina Norwegian, Catherine Mackeinzo-Taylor, and Arlene Hache.

Because it is International Women's Day, I would like to recognize some of our women leaders and women colleagues: my Deputy Minister, Ms. Eleanor Young, from Municipal and Community Affairs; Ms. Dawn Moses, Municipal and Community Affairs; and colleague and personal friend, I consider, Ms. Sharon Firth, Municipal and Community Affairs.

Another woman that I recognize...

Yes, every LHO is notified as soon as someone is behind their rent, and then they can actually provide counselling to people to try to ensure that they can catch up on their rent.

We do allow people to enter repayment plans. We try to work with them to say, "If you keep current with your current rent, can you pay a few dollars towards your arrears?" to keep people in, and then, finally, like I said, we are trying the new pilot project, the housing support worker, that when we get notified that someone is falling behind, we send in a worker to see if we can actually work one-on-one with those...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not sure what page it is, but it is in our capital plan. We are actually looking at building a seniors' complex within the community of Yellowknife. We are targeting for 22 units. I know it is small, but it is the most progress thing we have done in many, many years.

Of course, within that, we are doing the full review of a study of what seniors' needs are throughout the territory so that we can actually be more strategic in putting seniors' units up. They are our knowledge; they are our history. It is important that we respect them and we provide accommodations as...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In 2016-2017, the Yellowknife housing organization provided a year-to-date surplus of $3.4 million. That is a lot of money that can be used for services. We are not going to take it away and not provide other supports. We have asked them to reinvest that money into housing. They are building the eight-plex.

We have also started new programs. If they were using that to address the wait list, we have other programs now that will address the wait list. We have our rent supplement program in which any resident who is paying more than 30 per cent of their rent can actually get...

Yes, we do maintain a policy, and it's called Under the Collection Policy and Procedures. My direction actually when I took over is: don't leave it for three months. As soon as somebody is in arrears for over a month, you start the process. I apologize if that does cause inconveniences, but my job is to take care of 2,600 people in homes in the communities, and so it's important that people are provided their support by the eviction. Eviction is the last resort provided in the rental tenancy order so that they can start carrying their arrears once they owe only a month or so versus years of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is a mixture of people, not necessarily only seniors that were using the CARE Major. It is also important to note that, especially with seniors, where we have the aging in place money, but more than that, we are trying to really work with the senior population. We have gone into communities, and we have talked to seniors' associations. We have been trying to reach out to seniors, and we have focused on them, to talk about our other programs such as the CARE PM, which is preventative maintenance. That is an annual program.

The biggest cost when it comes to CARE Major is...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, we have worked with the Yellowknife local housing organization. They are using a lot of surplus, actually, to build an eight-plex within Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Chair.