Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions today for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I’d like to ask some questions regarding the Homelessness Assistance Fund.
From what I know of this fund, it is a fund that is used as a program of last resort when people have lost their home or are in between homes and need some assistance to make sure that they don’t go homeless. I’d like to ask the Minister at this point if she could explain to me what, in her mind, is a definition of a program of last resort in terms of the time frame that she expects people to be able to have to apply for this assistance and maybe get it.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The time frame for those who apply for this funding varies and is dependent on the specific situation. I’ve seen a turnaround of 24 hours or days.
I’d like to give the Minister a bit of a scenario which, unfortunately, occurred. A family was offered an apartment with Yellowknife Housing Authority. They ended the lease in their current place. Then a policy intervened and three weeks before the end of their current lease they were advised that, no, they had arrears and they had to pay the arrears before they could move into their new place. The response basically from Health and Social Services was that policy did not allow them to go into this place.
I’d like to ask the Minister, if this is a program of last resort, should staff members not be working to accommodate these people who are in a difficult situation between one home and the next as opposed to simply refusing them?
Without knowing the details and facts of the situation, it’s difficult for me to comment, but I think it should be noted that when we say a program is one of last resort it does not equal to saying that anybody who applies for it will get it. They would have to meet the guidelines and policies of those programs. Without knowing the facts, I could not give full answers to exactly what happened in this situation. If the Member wants to bring the details to me, I’d be happy to look into that.
To the Minister, this is not a current situation. It was solved. It was not solved through any assistance through government, unfortunately. It was solved through the assistance of the community. I’d like to ask the Minister, when a person is desperate for homeownership assistance, or for home assistance I should say, so that they do not become homeless, what is it that the staff do? What do they look at to see whether or not an application should be accepted or denied?
This pot of money for $125,000 was allocated to help those in most need. They sometimes don’t fall into other programs that are available in the government. I am aware of lots of specific situations where we have helped them. We have, in fact, spent every penny in that program over the last year. It does work to fill the gaps and fill the holes and to be a safety net for those who come forward. A Member has a situation of one case that didn’t work out perhaps, and I’m glad to hear that it was resolved, but by and large this program serves the purpose for which it was intended.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In this case I don’t think it did work. The family had three weeks’ notice to try and pay off a $700 debt, give or take. It simply was not possible. The father was in school, the mother was on income support. I really need to ask the Minister, when an application comes forward, do the staff not look to find solutions as opposed to finding a way to deny the application?
I can say in confidence that our staff looks to find solutions. We do not look at the application to look for a way to deny them. In fact, we have spent $62,000 more on this budget than what was allocated. I can demonstrate to you that we have spent 50 percent more than what was allocated. We look for ways to find solutions. I can give for her one example that she has 10 examples of how we have helped our residents to go back to their communities and pay off their debt. I’m saying that if in this situation the person was denied, they would have been faxed, I would have supported that, and I need the Member to tell me what the situation is.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
