Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Madam Chair. The committee wishes to consider Bill 14, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly Executive Council Act, No. 2.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, the system is simply not working. It just goes to show here, Mr. Speaker, that what we are doing here, we are not doing anything about the arrears. It is a huge issue in the community. As the Minister has explained, the renter arrears continue to accumulate over the years without any investigations or suggestion of a solution to this problem. How is this government being accountable for the debts incurred by numerous renters continuously accumulating more and more arrears against their rent? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (English not provided)

Mr. Speaker, with my previous Member’s statement on the 182 public units in Behchoko that owe outrageous rental arrears, I would like to ask the Minister of the Housing Corporation, can the Minister explain to this Assembly how we, the GNWT, Government of the Northwest Territories, allow one public unit, as an example in Behchoko, to accumulate $76,413 in rental arrears which is still increasing? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I move that Bill 14 be amended by striking out item 12 of the appendix and substituting items 11.1 and 12 as set out in the schedule to this motion.

Madam Chair, I seek unanimous consent to have the schedule to this motion deemed read and printed in Hansard in its entirety. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Madam Chair. Madam Chair…(English not provided)

Madam Chair, I’d just like to highlight what I’ve said in my own language, that with the report that came out in May and also just with the recent report from Mr. Pokiak, that there was a statement there that came away with one dominant message. Madam Chair, not all Members agreed at that time in the Lutselk’e meeting that there was one voice. Some Members disagreed with what took part there. So I would just like to highlight that as a clarification and the number of change from the recommendation itself as well. There was $600,000 and...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is my final question for the Minister. If the Minister is serious about remaining accountable as a government, he will see the urgency of the situation and investigate it immediately, Mr. Speaker. Is the Minister prepared to conduct such an investigation and get to the bottom of these things once and for all? We cannot continue with this. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Minister stated, this has been an ongoing issue for quite some time now. That’s quite true. The LHO is under the umbrella of the NWT Housing Corporation. We do have the accountability there, Mr. Speaker, as the NWT government. Mr. Speaker, my next question leads to what the Minister indicated on unemployment or high employment. There is something wrong with this system, Mr. Speaker. How can people who are not employed incur debts such as $76,000 or owing an average of $11,000 when this government has a system in place such as the Housing Subsidy...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker…(English not provided)

Mr. Speaker, housing in Behchoko is a mess. The community of Behchoko has some serious arrears on rental units, the public units. There are currently 182 public units in Behchoko. Mr. Speaker, these 182 units are under the umbrella of the NWT Housing Corporation. That’s our Housing Corporation here in the Northwest Territories government. Some residents argue that they have been rated wrongly in the past, paying high rent when they were unemployed, for example. Mr. Speaker, assessments in the past were done incorrectly. Their complaints...

Mahsi, Madam Chair. Madam Chair…(English not provided)

Madam Chair, I'd just to rephrase what I've said in my language about the importance of having an additional seat for Tlicho, as I presented here in motion format.

Madam Chair, with respect to what Members are saying around the table here and the vote that came into play, I understand the status quo position, especially from the outlying communities and the stress for the funding going to the communities. But at the same time, we, as the Tlicho Government and I representing Monfwi, try to work around the status quo of 19 Members. We met...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the opportunity arises in a partnership, we are always happy to join forces with departments or the Ministers. On this particular issue, the community would like to see some results, whether it be this year or next year, but the sooner the better. So I would like to ask the Minister if he’s willing to make a commitment in this House, whether this will be part of the business plan cycle for 2007 to implement for next year. Mahsi.