Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]
Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak on the issue of the CMHC declining fund for the 2,000 or 2,200-or-so public housing units across the Northwest Territories. This agreement was signed a few years ago and clearly lays out how and when this fund will be declining. This funding is dropping at a fairly quick pace, and from $33 million this funding will drop to zero. I believe the decline during the life of this government is about $5.7 million. This constitutes a total loss of about $12 million towards the Public Housing Program in that period.
The requirement for mortgage payments has also been removed, which means the actual O and M budget deficit to this government should be about 15 to 20 million dollars annually. However, this is a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in total funding when you look at the whole agreement. With no extra funding coming from CMHC on these units, I would like to know what the NWT Housing Corporation is doing to offset this increasing budget deficit. Will the Housing Corporation wait until the money is gone and come back to the Assembly to ask for more money, or will they develop some proactive approaches and develop a comprehensive plan to compensate for this drop in federal funding?
There are many ways to resolve this serious issue. One solution would be to transfer the ownership of public housing units in non-market communities to tenants occupying these units for the tenants that can afford to operate these units. Another solution could see the NWT Housing Corporation sell public housing units to tenants that can afford to purchase the housing in market communities such as Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith and Inuvik, provided that it has no impact on the current housing market. Benefits of creating homeownership through public housing can be significant for this government. Currently, each public housing unit consumes about $15,000 a year in operation and maintenance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Later today I will have questions for the Minister on this.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
