David Krutko

Mr. Speaker, these units are for seniors in Hay River who basically have low incomes. This is going to be similar to public housing that we provide the seniors at the present time. I know there were concerns in regard to condos and whatnot that were in the mix. That is no longer part of this scenario, so we are only focussing on low income seniors to provide social housing for seniors in Hay River. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, before we proceed with anything, we will ensure that we do consult the seniors, seniors’ society, the seniors in our community and, more importantly, that through this legislative process that we have in front of us, we will be able to bring it forward by way of committees, but also have that debate here in the House. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have been in discussions with the Hay River Seniors' Society and also with CMHC who is also providing funding to this program. We are in the process of putting out a request for proposals for construction of units in Hay River, working in conjunction with the Seniors' Society, CMHC and ourselves. So we're presently in the process of preparing a request for proposal on that project.

Mr. Speaker, everyone knows that this land has been designated for seniors' housing in Hay River for years. It's nothing new to the Town of Hay River, and we have no plans of changing that at this time. Also in regards to the clients that we are looking at, we have done needs surveys, we have a lot of facilities we have in Hay River we're going to have to replace at some point, and we're looking at possibly moving those residents into this unit while we have to either replace the existing seniors' units in Hay River and move those residents into this new facility, because we do have to...

Mr. Speaker, as I stated in my opening remarks, this program has been there for 10 years. The government-of-the-day made a political decision to allow seniors in social housing not to pay rent. The decision was made and with this government they have made a decision to look at a social income review of all social programs, centralized it in one area and look at exactly the fairness of our programs and services. Right now that review is taking place, they will be looking at these issues to ensure that we have a fair process for all people within our social housing stock to people within the...

Mr. Speaker, I'll answer the last one first and go forward. The land that this project is sitting on is land that is owned by the Housing Corporation. We are contributing to this project. In regards to the numbers of units, again we are working along with the Seniors' Society in which they are also going to be putting money into this project, and also working with the community of Hay River to try to get some money through the capacity funding. But also through CMHC again, they are also involved. So at this time, we are working in conjunction with the three agencies to be able to deliver...

Mr. Speaker, this policy has been in effect for 10 years. It was put in place during the 13th Assembly to allow seniors to live in public housing and not pay rent. The policy has been there and we are simply following the policy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I stated, we are reviewing it through the review of our income security programs. Right now, as a government, we have decided, as Members of this House and as this government, that we are centralizing the programs that we deliver to find a fair mechanism to all people regardless if they live in their own home or are in social housing. Because of the inequities of our programs and services, we want to ensure that everybody is treated fairly. So we are presently going through that process. Once basically there is a review done, the Minister of Education will be coming back to...

Mr. Speaker, we are in the process of having three agencies putting money into this facility. We have basically CMHC, ourselves, and also the Seniors’ Society in Hay River. They are also going to be contributing to this project. So with the three organizations that are going to be contributing, at the end of the day we have to determine exactly how much investment would each group make, and also when those investments will either be written off over a period of time or basically that we'll be able to hand that asset over to an agency or organization in Hay River. It’s either going to be the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as all the Members know, we are moving towards centralizing our social funding to one institution, which is the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, where we’ve basically allocated $30 million from the housing program in regards to subsidies that we provide and through the arrangement of centralizing the funds that are provided to people in the Northwest Territories for programs and subsidy programs from home grants in regards to subsidies for our housing stock for social housing and also in regards to programs that we have from fuel subsidies...