David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have been working closely with the Seniors’ Society. We do have a universal arrangement with them where we’ve funded them to work with us on different promotion packages, such as the seniors’ disabled maintenance programs. We do have a lot of programs directed towards seniors with regard to the housing proposal. Again, we are working in conjunction with the different organizations: the Council for Disabled People and the Seniors’ Society. So we are working with them, but we also have programs that are directed to seniors and people with disabilities...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe that’s the goal we are facing. We have spoken to respective companies that are considering working in that area. They are companies that are looking at the possibility of establishing such a business. But again, there are proposals that we are suggesting going forward with through the Business Development Corporation, the Business Credit Corporation and working with those other arms of government to help the entrepreneur or the business community that we’ve spoken to companies in Yellowknife and Hay River and also in Southern Canada who are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the core components of our initiatives is to look at the affordability, adequacy and suitability of housing for people in the North. I think the biggest element of that is affordability. We hear about people trying to get mortgages, people trying to get into homeownership, but the problem that we’re running into is the costs of stick-built homes in the Northwest Territories are excessive. We do have a manufacturing directive that looks at manufacturing products in the North, and in the last 10 years we’ve spent $18 million in that area. All that goes...

Mr. Speaker, we do have programs through the Housing Corporation, such as the EDAP program or the IHP program. They are programs to assist from social housing into homeownership. What we have done is amortized this over 25 years. So by extending it by an extra five years, it brings down your mortgage costs and will make it more affordable for clients. We are working with clients in communities to ensure that they make that transition. I think because of lifting the moratorium, we are working with clients in all the different communities and counselling them to see if they are interested in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am working in conjunction with Bill Erasmus through the AFN allocation. As everybody knows, in the budget there was $5 billion allocated for aboriginal housing. We are working closely with Bill and the people he has, developing the proposal to take forth to the AFN meetings this summer; to look at a plan for the North for this funding so we can access funding for aboriginal communities on top of the funding we have through our core funding allocations.

Again, in the budget, that’s one area that we’re looking at. Also, there is work that is ongoing with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with regard to that, talking to manufacturers and other groups, like I stated, there is no one right now at the present time who has certification to deliver or build these units in the Northwest Territories. We have been talking to people in the private sector who are looking at developing proposals and coming forward. Again, Mr. Speaker, the whole idea of mobile units versus stick built, there’s almost a 40 percent difference between the price of a stick built and these mobile homes. Those mobile homes do meet national building standards and are also...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with regard to the way the Social Housing Program is delivered, it is a social program that is delivered through CMHC -- which are national programs that are delivered across Canada for social housing -- where, as an agent of CMHC, we, as the territories, along with Nunavut, probably have one of the leaner rate scales in the country. Again, it is a national standard that we follow. Again, this is social housing. It is designated for low income tenants, but also we accommodate people who want to move into social housing with the awareness that, as a high...

Mr. Speaker, I would like to announce that one of my former constituents, Robert Arthur Alexis, along with Penguin Books of Canada, will be releasing his second novel, The Pale Indian, this month. Robert was born and raised in Fort McPherson and served as sub-chief and then chief of Tetlit Gwich’in of Fort McPherson. Robert was also instrumental in assisting the Gwich’in to realize their claim in 1992. He served two terms on the Gwich’in Tribal Council as vice-president and is currently with the Gwich’in Land and Water Board in Inuvik.

Robert’s first novel, Porcupines and China Dolls, which...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as everyone knows, rate increases are based on the tenant’s act, which is an act which is enforced through the Department of Justice. At this time, in order to increase any rent, you have to give three months' notice. If you’re not satisfied with that decision, you appeal that to the tenancy officer who is there to oversee the tenant’s act. That’s the appeals process that you go through. You appeal a decision you don’t like or an eviction that you receive through the tenancy officer who is responsible for enforcing the tenant’s act. Again, that follows the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with regard to the rent, it is based on format of thresholds for low income tenants who pay a lot less than people who are in the high income range. So it is based on the amount of income that you receive. It is calculated through a phase-in approach, that I mentioned, by way of the rate scale system that we have, which was supposed to be phased in over four years. We are now in the second year of a four-year phase-in, so we are now looking at readjusting that to phase in over this year and next year, which, as it stands right now, is basically 30...