Caroline Cochrane

The Member is correct in that, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, we do get funded for 2,400 public housing units. The CMHC funding is going to dissolve in 2038. We are trying to develop a plan to deal with the lack of funding that we will have for operating and maintenance for 2,400 units. So, at this point, we are not looking at increasing our public housing stock, but we are looking at and we're hoping that, with the program renewal, we will be able transfer some of the current units into more home ownership. That way we can actually increase our public housing availability at...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Tom and Pam Williams, who are constituents of Range Lake now. Happy anniversary to both of you. On behalf of MACA, Municipal and Community Affairs, our sports and recreation division, I also want to recognize Bryan Trottier and Tyler Kennedy, who are true role models to the youth who are coming up in society. It is really important that we have people like that, and it is an honour to have them here. I want to put a shout out to Tom Williams, who is our deputy minister of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, who will be going...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a bit early to define what exactly the program renewal will look like, because the survey just closed over a week ago. I do know, however, that we have done mortgage programs in the past and there were some issues with them, so I would have to review what the problems were with the mortgage programs that we provided, to do an analysis. I know that we also will be working towards more of a lease-to-own kind of a model, as well. So, in regard to whether we start to do a guaranteed loan, that would be something I would have to explore to find out why it didn't work...

The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation abides by all the standards, building codes, et cetera within Canada. In fact, our standards are actually higher than some provinces and territories. The reality is, though, that each individual is different and so what determines what one person who is aging in their own home needs will not be the same right across the board. So we look at each case on an individual basis to determine what supports they need in there.

Mr. Speaker, no, to my knowledge we have not done an evaluation of exactly what the cost savings are to do aging-in-place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am sorry. At this moment, I do not know the answer of what the status is on the four-plex. I will have to get back to the MLA on that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As part of the program renewal that we are actually right in the process of doing now, all available housing units within every community are going to be looked at, and if they are not being utilized for the purpose that they were put there, they will be repurposed into a new use. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The deal with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation to provide them $15 million was not a Government of the Northwest Territories decision. It was a federal decision. We had no input into that. The Government of the Northwest Territories was not consulted in that process, so we can't determine what the federal government did with that or where they are going to move in the future.

However, what I can say is that, for the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, we take care of the needs of all residents within the Northwest Territories. So just...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The partnership that we have developed with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation is a partnership in that the Housing Corporation provides the land and will take over the ownership of the units for rental purposes, but the IRC is responsible for building the units and determining where they want to go. The current funding, the $5 million, will be used to replace a six-plex in Inuvik and a four-plex in Tuktoyaktuk that were burned from fire. The $10 million that is coming next, we have not negotiated on. Again, it is not the Housing Corporation's prerogative to be able to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is looking forward to all of the ideas. We will be reviewing all suggestions that are provided with the survey, in the House, and any other way that we have gotten input, so everything will be reviewed.