Tom Beaulieu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In all fairness, the Minister is correct; there are positive impacts to the delivery of housing at the community level in as far as employment for the community and a good business for some of the local contractors and so on. I don’t want the Minister to get me wrong. I was purely talking about the impacts on the homeowners, not so much what happens with employment in the community.

If the Housing Corporation makes a decision to develop new programs, to revamp programs, would the Minister do this in consultation with the communities?

The Minister said he would look into the transfer of responsibility for homeownership. If that can’t be done across the board, would the Minister look at it as a backup, a contribution agreement signed with either the local housing organizations or the aboriginal governments of the community to deliver homeownership programs in the communities?

I’d like to recognize Agatha Laboucan and Elizabeth Ann McKay from the local housing organizations in Lutselk’e and Fort Resolution.

I encourage the Minister to put that provision in the contracts. I think it’s very important. There are a small percentage of people in the communities that could use those materials and assist their own housing needs even though they may not be eligible for the regular programs. Thank you.

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?