We’ve done our homework and we know how this is going to affect seniors in the communities. As I said the other day, it will affect them to the tune of $35 a month starting September 1st, and full implementation on July 1st. One of the reasons we had the $1,000 exemption for seniors was the fact that we recognize a lot of them are on a fixed income. We have to be very careful that when they have adults in the home, again, I think we were talking today and there was some mention made of elder abuse. This sometimes can lead to elder abuse, where you have adults in the housing that are working...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my response to questions the other day, I did talk about the fact that there was some concern raised by Members and by the Seniors’ Society. We did take some of the recommendations. That’s why we decided that we’d implement it over a two-year period with the first being September 1st and the second being July 1st of next year. I did say the other day that this is something that needs to be done, and it’s a question of treating all people across the NWT equally like we all signed up to do in our Members Code of Conduct. That’s where we’re going with this. To pay $35...

That’s one of the options we would have to look at, as far as the timeline goes. We have to explore with the community the different options, as far as the types of water treatment plant. We haven’t had that discussion yet so we have to sit down with the community to discuss those options. I think at that time it would probably be best, or appropriate, then to come up with a timeline depending on which system they choose.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Enterprise has put in a desire to have their own water treatment plant. Our role now is to work with the community, and look at all of the options, and look at some of the different cost factors, and work with them to try to come up with the best deal possible for the community.

Mr. Speaker, we do keep tabs on the community spending. We work with communities. This here is just to see if this accountability framework is meeting their needs. Is it working for them? Is communication between the community and MACA? Are there ways we can improve? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Because we have given the communities a lot more responsibility and a lot more financing, the purpose of the accountability framework is to work closely with the communities to have a pretty transparent system of how that money is dealt with. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we could have asked them to report once a year. That may not have been enough to satisfy some Members. We could have asked them to report 12 times a year. We thought for the first part, this would be a good starting point. If there are other options we can explore in the future such as less reporting once things get rolled out really good, then there may not be a need for further reporting. I am sure the communities will let us know that. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wouldn’t say it is to keep tabs on the communities. I would call it work closely with the communities to ensure that public funds are spent the way they should be. It is more of a communication tool. We want to make sure that public funds are well looked after. Thank you.

I did have an opportunity to meet with the NWT Seniors’ Society. Obviously, with an issue of importance like this, there was mixed views on it. Some thought it was a good thing. Some said we should just stay at zero. There were a few that said, well, why don’t you just meet us halfway and phase it in? Listening to that and listening to concerns of the Members, we took that into consideration and we decided to go with September 1st and implement it over the next two years.

Mr. Speaker, the new public housing rent scale is scheduled to be implemented on July 1, 2012. We recognize the changes we are making are significant and there will be an adjustment period for all tenants.

As you know, there have been concerns expressed about the impact of the changes on seniors who reside without others in the house and often live on fixed income. These seniors have been paying zero rent under the old rent scale, but were to pay between $70 and $80 minimum rent using the new rent scale.

In recognition of the concerns that have been expressed, I am instructing the NWT Housing...