David Krutko

Thank you, Madam Speaker. We are in discussion with the Ernie MacDonald Land Corporation in Norman Wells. We realize there is a possibility of a market in Norman Wells with the hospital establishing a Sahtu health board. There will be a need for more units than we can offer. So we are in discussion with the people from Norman Wells to look at a partnership, so they can get into the market housing initiative themselves. We would have someone take over that program and run with it. So we are in deliberations with people from Norman Wells, the Metis Development Corporation there. We are in those...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we are working with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment in trying to ensure we are able to track professionals and keep them in our communities by the market housing initiative that is out there. Again, this year we will be putting more units in Deline and Norman Wells. Because Deline is going to have to be delivered over the winter road, they won’t be available until next spring. We’re hoping to have the units in Norman Wells in place by this fall. It is in place. We are continuing to deliver the market housing initiative in the Sahtu...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we are working with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and also the different aboriginal tribal councils and Indian Affairs, because Indian Affairs does have responsibility for band lands. I think that is where the problem is. There are ongoing meetings with Indian Affairs to try and find a resolution to this problem and I think because of the capacity problems in a lot of our small communities, we’ve realized through Municipal and Community Affairs that we have to put more money into those small communities so they can develop those...

But I think more importantly the EDAP program was originally designed to help people move from public housing into home ownership who were paying the high end with regard to the rent scale. So I’d just like to note for the Member that the EDAP program, as it was originally laid out, was to assist small communities and individuals to move out of public housing into home ownership. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I am hoping to have the document tabled in this House by Wednesday.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, we do have unique challenges in small communities and we also realize that the cost of living is a lot higher and that the clients in most cases have minimum wages in the $50,000 range. In regard to construction of a lot of these units where you have to bring them in through the winter road or by barge, there is a higher transportation cost associated with that. We take that into consideration.

Like I stated last week, this program was designed to get people out of public housing and into home ownership, and a lot of those people are in the bracket range...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, there is a process in which we encourage the applicants to reapply in regard to the following year because of change of circumstances. Like I stated last week, there are certain responsibilities in the application that the client must consider. They must be able to show that they’re able to sustain a house in regards to the operation of the unit, but also more importantly they have to retain a mortgage through the bank for a portion of the payment for the unit.

The other problem that we have in a lot of small communities is land development. A lot of...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, in regard to the EDAP program, as we all know that’s probably one of the programs that we’ve been able to get the most mileage out of and I think, if anything, in most communities that’s the only program we can get people out of public housing into home ownership. They have been taking advantage of that. Like I stated in my statement over the last week, we’ve put some 570 people into this program and we’ve put some $67 million into the Northwest Territories economy.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I will be tabling the information that I was requested to table in the House, but because the Member's question was so technical, I will have to take a little time to research it and make sure that I get the information to the Member so that I am accurate in regard to the issue that he raised so that the information that he receives is valid and hopefully it will take care of his question. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to have two Pages here from my riding. It’s the first time I have had the opportunity to bring them down from my riding. It’s a real opportunity for them to learn how the consensus government works and see how we operate here in the House. I would like to recognize Kayla Arey from Moose Kerr School in Aklavik…

---Applause

…and Jennifer Greenland from Chief Julius School in Fort McPherson. Thank you.