Tom Beaulieu

Mr. Chairman, there is a lot of work being done in the public housing area in the area of replacements and retrofit and possibly, well, replacement is new public housing units. I recognize that retrofits are just maintaining the same units and retrofitting them if they’re within economical repair, and the ones that are being replaced, my assumption is that they’re beyond economical repair. Is there any possibility that those units could be put essentially on the market for individuals that perhaps could do some renovations to the unit and keep the unit or the corporation assisting maybe this...

Mr. Chairman, I’m wondering if the Minister and the corporation have contemplated design-build for this type of unit.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My first question is for the Housing Corporation Minister. I wonder what type of cycle the construction is on. I see there’s materials, labour and land development. I’m wondering if the corporation is building on three-year cycles.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, will support the motion to reduce the amount that is being charged at the maximum at 30 percent of the gross income for public housing, because I recognize that with about 30 percent going to taxes and the extra cost of employment and our desire to keep people employed. Of course, people who are not afraid to be employed because their rents would be too high. It’s an opportunity to bring that down a little bit at the upper end and I think that this is one part of the program that this side of the House is asking the government to tweak and bring 30 percent...

As we’ve seen and heard in the House today, the peer programs that the Housing Corporation is delivering right now don’t seem to have a positive impact on the communities. Would the Minister be prepared to look at revamping all homeownership programs and separate programs between market and non-market communities?

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I spoke of some failed programs that have cost the Housing Corporation or this government millions of dollars, with no actual reduction as far as core needs go because the units are not being used. I have questions for the Minister of Housing. Would the Minister consider transferring homeownership responsibilities to the communities, along with the appropriate resources?

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

I’d like to start by quoting some people across the NWT:

“Houses are built and sit empty, the system doesn’t work...”

“Housing is beyond frustration for small communities.”

“You are losing money just letting houses sit empty.”

“There seems to be a serious flaw in the approach, if it means housing, communities develop their own policies...that may be the best thing to do.”

“Maybe direct funding for First Nations from the federal government is the way to go.”

Those were quotes from the Dene National Assembly this summer in Fort Good Hope. As...

Mr. Chairman, on the retrofit of public housing units, can the Minister tell me if there’s been any discussion with the corporation on the disposition of materials that are coming off the units that are being retrofitted, possibly to give the materials to individual homeowners that may otherwise not be eligible for regular repair programs? In a sense, for clarity, I’m saying that if they take replacing the siding with a better grade of siding on the retrofit of these public housing units, can that siding be given to an individual or individuals in the communities that are otherwise not...

Staying on the same line of questioning, Mr. Chairman, I’m wondering if there are construction regulations, or standards, perhaps is a better term, that is preventing this unit from being delivered at an economical rate per square foot.

One of the needs at the community level has been a need to provide small, detached units for a certain type of homeownership clientele in the communities, and the Housing Corporation has been working on a small unit. There is a need for units that are maybe a little under 500 square feet to something that may be a little over 700 square feet. Those are fairly small units basically designed for a single person or a two-person family. I’m wondering if there’s been any progress made for that type of unit.