Robert C. McLeod

Mr. Speaker, I would have to have discussions with the LHOs to truly see if it’s less work for them. They would prefer that their tenants come in on a month-to-month basis, because you have tenants that may be working for three months and then for the other two or three months they may not work, they may get a job for a month. That’s the reason they come and ask them for month-to-month assessments, so they can assess their rent based on their income for the past month. I think that’s a situation that has worked well.

As far as equalizing it over 12 months, do we collect at the end of 12 months...

We are looking at a couple of options as to the actual site clean-up itself. We have two avenues we’re looking at right now. We are just in the process of trying to see which one would work best. It is our intent to find every way possible to have this site cleaned up. Once we’re clear with that I can communicate to the Member privately and give her an update as to the status and where we’re at with getting the site cleaned up.

The actual construction of the units or the capital projects that we’re putting up during the summer are usually contracted out. It would be up to the contractors to determine if they needed summer students. They would make that decision and there’s a lot of factors they would have to look at; obviously, the amount of training they have, safety, and all that. It would be up to the contractors to make that decision.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We did recognize, as this whole Assembly did, that this was quite an issue. We’ve come up with a plan to assist our tenants, whether it be public housing or mortgage homeowners, we’ve come up with a plan to help them deal with their arrears. There’s a repayment plan that they can enter into with their local housing authority where they pay so much a month on top of the rent that they’ve been assessed.

Our collection rate as of March 31, 2011, was at 79 percent, which is an improvement. A lot of the local LHOs, I think we have a high of 161 percent. That indicates to me...

We did have an appraisal on the site there, and the cost of removing all the infrastructure there was significantly higher than what we would have got for it had we sold it off as surplus. That’s the stage we’re at right now.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently we have three. That’s not including what students the LHOs themselves might take on, which will probably bring the number a lot higher.

At the end of the day, it is our goal to see our tenants become more independent and honour the commitments that they’ve made. There’s also, and I’ve stated in the House in the past, an appeals process that we’re hoping to roll out here fairly soon. I won’t as a rule try and dictate to the LHOs what they do. They make their own policies. They’re the ones that actually came to us with some of the ideas they’ve had which they figure work quite well in their communities.

There’s an appeals process that we’re hoping to roll out here. Tenants will have the opportunity, if they feel that the board...

Mr. Speaker, I would have to have discussions with the LHOs to truly see if it’s less work for them. They would prefer that their tenants come in on a month-to-month basis, because you have tenants that may be working for three months and then for the other two or three months they may not work, they may get a job for a month. That’s the reason they come and ask them for month-to-month assessments, so they can assess their rent based on their income for the past month. I think that’s a situation that has worked well.

As far as equalizing it over 12 months, do we collect at the end of 12 months...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, first of all, the obvious one is pay your rent and you won’t be evicted. We’ve come to cases where folks have received termination notices and they need to work with the LHO. The LHO tries to work with them. The whole eviction process is almost a year-long process and it comes to a point where eviction is the last option. We’ve had a few cases of those. It’s not something that we like to do. We want to be able to work with the tenants.

I can point out to the Member again, and I have said in this House, we’ve seen a great improvement in the public engaging with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We did recognize, as this whole Assembly did, that this was quite an issue. We’ve come up with a plan to assist our tenants, whether it be public housing or mortgage homeowners, we’ve come up with a plan to help them deal with their arrears. There’s a repayment plan that they can enter into with their local housing authority where they pay so much a month on top of the rent that they’ve been assessed.

Our collection rate as of March 31, 2011, was at 79 percent, which is an improvement. A lot of the local LHOs, I think we have a high of 161 percent. That indicates to me...