Tom Beaulieu

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about the public housing rent scale. Mr. Speaker, the current rent scale used by the NWT Housing Corporation in the administration of public housing does not work for the tenants in smaller communities. Mr. Speaker, as I’ve said many times in the past, communities in Tu Nedhe have employment rates well below 40 percent and nothing should serve as a deterrent to work. As it stands now, the rent scale is a major deterrent for people who wish to work.

Mr. Speaker, if a person in public housing gets a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s good news. Will the Minister direct his staff to look at this very specific point, and that very specific point is that non-market communities use economic rents? Economic rents are established to recover costs. People never pay that, because there’s no work. Will the Minister direct his staff to look at the feasibility of establishing a maximum rent for all non-market communities?

Just to add a little to that, I was looking for more of an amount. Not a specific amount, but does the Minister agree that the average public housing paid, average rent paid for public housing in market communities is higher than the non-market communities?

Without this policy, people in public housing cannot afford to work. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Housing today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a few comments, more general, on the Minister’s opening remarks for the review. I guess the one area where I have a little bit of concern is the community infrastructure funding. I know that the community infrastructure funding is scheduled for a review after five years. I don’t understand why there was no clause negotiated in there that it would be at least indexed to the cost of living and so on. From my understanding, it’s remained at $28 million, at least that particular budget, for the full five years prior to review. So I don’t know if we’re going to have a...

I’d like to ask the Minister if there’s a policy that prevents the Minister from establishing maximum rents and replacing economic rents with maximum rents in non-market communities.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I spoke of the public housing rent scale in non-market communities acting as a bit of a deterrent for people working. I have some questions for the Minister of the NWT Housing Corporation. Does the Minister agree that public housing rent scale is different between market communities and non-market communities?

Mr. Speaker, I’m trying to get the appropriate department, I guess, to start looking at employment rates. It’s very difficult to kind of place this issue, like the Minister responded, on one department. I’m also trying to find some sort of champion, I guess, from Cabinet to be able to lead something like this. Again, I want to ask the Minister if he knows, if the Minister or the department knows what industry needs for the demand of trades personnel are in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak about the Apprenticeship Program and its impact on small communities. In our small communities we have to bring trades personnel in to do work on our units and on our buildings. This is due to the lack of trades personnel at the community level.

Mr. Speaker, this is not to say we have no tradespeople at all, we do have a few, but much more is needed. For now, every tradesperson in a small community should have an apprentice working with them. In a community such as Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e...

Does that include the CMHC programs? I’m wondering if those are aside from the overall reduction. I’m wondering if the CMHC money comes separately, as far as CMHC repair programs go, as indicated in this book.