Mackenzie Delta

Statements in Debates

Debates of , (day 14)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have put a call out to the tenants of the authority in Behchoko to come forward and show us exactly how the rents were calculated, give us the information that they have so that we can assess it and try to find a solution on exactly how we came up with that number. I know a number of years ago, one of my predecessors looked at the possibility of working out an arrangement with Behchoko because of this particular problem. It is a problem. We are trying to work with the Member and the community to find a solution to the problem. Again, we cannot set a...

Debates of , (day 14)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the objective we set for our local authorities is that they do have to collect in the range of 90 percent of the revenues from rents that are charged to the tenants. We also have the Rent Supp Program, which offers those tenants a subsidy on the amount of rent that is being paid either through a subsidy, do an evaluation of the tenant to determine how much they are supposed to pay. As the Member states, these go back for some time. In order for someone to end up with $76,000 in arrears, they have to either have a high, high income or haven’t paid their...

Debates of , (day 14)

Yet we are spending major dollars with regard to larger centres by way of institutions to institutionalize the majority of clients who come from the smaller communities; our jail facilities. There is talk about putting more facilities in place. If you want to talk about distribution of wealth, you should also talk about the possibility of distribution of governments. There are 5,000 employees in the government that are in the larger, regional centres which has an effect on the larger population base.

Mr. Lafferty touched on the representation of the number of aboriginal people that he...

Debates of , (day 14)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are willing to send people into the community, sit down with each of the tenants and do an assessment tenant by tenant to see if we can come to the bottom of this problem. So I commit to the Member that I will direct my department to go into Behchoko and basically do just that by sitting down with the tenants and go with each one of them to ensure that we are being fair but also ensuring we try to find a way out of this problem. Thank you.

Debates of , (day 14)

Mr. Speaker, we are aware that this is an issue with regard to Behchoko by way of how their rents were collected. It was managed and administered by a community organization. We had to take this back a number of years ago. I think there is a system in place where we do have the ability to backtrack the accounts as they are on our records. But they were under a different management agreement a number of years ago, in which we realized we do have some problems with that. Again, Mr. Speaker, the principle through that local housing authority is that they do have to ensure that they do work with...

Debates of , (day 13)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have seriously thought this through in regards to the type of construction we are going to use. We are looking at multi-dwelling facilities, getting away from the stick-built single housing construction, because we are looking at the energy efficiency of these units versus the old units, but also looking at new building methods and materials that we use, which will basically give you better R value. We’re able to heat the homes at less costs, but also ensuring that we do allow homes to be built for senior people with disabilities and also try to meet...

Debates of , (day 13)

Mr. Speaker, at the present time, no, there is no such program in existence.

Debates of , (day 13)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are looking at consolidating our programs into four general areas, and also we're looking at increasing the borrowing limits that we have had in these programs before. I think by increasing that, looking at especially the eligibility criteria that we have in our programs so that it's more accessible to all residents in the Northwest Territories. But more importantly, we do look at the energy efficiency of how do we improve homes to make them more energy efficient but also make them cost neutral so you're not spending more money. If anything, you'll be...

Debates of , (day 13)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to update Members on progress made to date on the affordable housing initiative that will provide a $100 million investment in affordable housing in the Northwest Territories over the next three years.

Mr. Speaker, commitments made by this government to invest in housing through the affordable housing initiative will give us a lasting impact on our residents, our communities, and our territory for generations to come. Our success in acquiring the federal funding to complement the GNWT's investment will provide us with an opportunity to provide residents...

Debates of , (day 13)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do look in regards to the type of housing that the community would like. We also look at our statistics of where the needs are. There’s the family dwellings, one bungalow or two-bedroom, three-bedroom or four-bedroom. What we’re finding in a lot of communities is that people are asking for three or four-bedroom units because there are no units for families with more than three or four kids. I think we have to realize that we have to sit down with communities and see exactly which type of housing they need in the communities, but also look at our...