Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like Member Menicoche, we certainly heard and learned a lot of interesting information from Mike Holmes when he discussed it. I was really glad that Mike Holmes shares my concerns about the lack of consumer protection for residents. The funny thing is, when we told my son the other day he was coming to town, he asked, “Is he coming to fix my house?” Mike Holmes brought to light a lot of important issues.
Again, to hearken back to my Member’s statement, the consumer protection issue is a very significant one. He highlighted in Ontario it is important for new home warranties, as well as the fact, when you get a house, we can talk about protection for disclosure agreements. Mr. Speaker, I have raised this issue with the Minister of MACA before, which the answer that basically came back was a polite, “go away.” “Until it is an issue that is raised outside with screaming constituents, it is not an issue on the radar of MACA.” Mr. Speaker, would the Minister of MACA be willing to relook at this particular issue to create consumer protection for our territorial residents, which could be mirrored somewhat similar as Alberta and Ontario? It is a very simple process. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can’t wait for the next episode of Holmes on Homes when he credits Mr. Hawkins with some of the information that he shared with him.
Mr. Speaker, real estate sales are regulated under the Real Estate Licensing Act and there really is no provision in there right now for mandating a warranty on homes. With so little time left in this Assembly, I am not sure we would be able to do it within the life of this Assembly. But if it is something that the Member feels strongly enough about, we could put it in a transition document for the 17th Legislative Assembly to consider. I have stated before that this is not one that we have a lot of concerns with, but if it is one that Members feel strongly about, I would propose we put it in a transition document in the 17th Assembly. They can then decide if it is a priority for them. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of MACA is correct about the probable placement of this regulation, but I believe that this could be a regulation that we can start working on today and we wouldn’t have to wait and hope that the 17th Assembly would make this particular decision.
As we all know, government likes to take its time and I often phrase, we move at the speed of government, which means it probably won’t happen. My fear is the momentum would be lost and the reality is we will allow people to continue to be put at risk. Mr. Speaker, what would stop the Minister today to review and see if a regulation could be put into our existing policies to ensure that we come up with some new homeowner protection for people out there? Again, it is the most expensive purchase most people will ever make in their life. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I can explore that, but being the most expensive purchase someone will ever make in their life, they would take the necessary precautions to make sure they have somebody go and inspect the unit before they buy it, and most reputable and good builders will have a warranty on their product because they are quite comfortable. You look at a lot of the builders we have here in the Northwest Territories. They all live here amongst us. It is to their benefit to have a good product that they warranty, because you may run into them and you would have them come and fix the unit or anything that needs to be worked on. The days of the fly-by-night operators that came and built units and disappeared into the night are long gone. I think we see that today.
I will tell the Member that I will have a discussion with the department and see if this is something that we can maybe move on a little sooner and the amount of work and resources that we may be required to do. I will commit to that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Time for question period has expired; however, I will allow the Member a supplementary question. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Minister for taking the issues as serious as I do and being willing to address it by looking at it and see if there is something we can do.
Mr. Speaker, a lot of homes fail even after a good inspection. That is ultimately the concern. Mr. Speaker, if the NWT had a policy to ensure that that would be the case, does the Minister see a need for this to become a government policy for government housing? What type of inspection do we have from a MACA point of view on this type of industry that would any of our new houses built through Housing Program, we don’t provide any inspection? I know his housing experience and housing maintainer would probably be very clear on saying that they have spent a lot of time repairing brand new houses. That is the type of issue that I am referring to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the Member that all Housing homes that are built are inspected by the Housing Corporation and are signed before we take responsibility for these units. When we get the unit from the builder, there is usually a warranty that comes with these units. I can assure the Member that we just don’t take the keys and walk in without the proper inspections. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Before I go on with orders of the day, the Chair is going to call a short break.
---SHORT RECESS
Back to orders of the day. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Mr. Speaker, I’m seeking unanimous consent to return to item 7, oral questions, on the orders of the day.
---Unanimous consent granted
The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
