Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my Member’s statement was regarding the Paulatuk housing situation we’re having over there with the evictions that have been taking place. We had four evicted already, Mr. Speaker. I was talking to the mayor this morning and he said there are eight more families supposedly on the list.
Mr. Speaker, I’m asking the Minister, will the Minister order that any evictions now that are in the works for Paulatuk be stopped in their tracks until we can deal with the issue out of the Inuvik office? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is concern with the amount of arrears that are out in Paulatuk. It’s not something that they just decided that they were going to do. This was a long process that they followed to get to the eviction process. I’m not quite sure if it’s a court ordered or rental officer ordered eviction. I’d have to follow up on that. The local housing organization up there does have policies that it goes by and people are given ample opportunity to come in and try to work out a repayment plan. I have to say, Mr. Speaker, that Paulatuk, for the number of units it’s got, has the highest average of arrears in the Northwest Territories, in around $34,000 per unit. So it is obviously an issue up there and it’s one that we have to deal with as a corporation, but more importantly, the residents of Paulatuk have to deal with. Thank you.
Thank you. The biggest problem is when in 2006 ECE took this program over, all the arrears that all built up. Now that Housing is taking it back they’re seeing fit to try to get the money back, which I’m in full agreement with. The Minister always says, you know, sweat equity, everybody has to pay, and I agree with that. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to me in regard to coming back to the community of Paulatuk himself to sit down with the leaders to keep the current tenants in their homes? Thank you.
Thank you. One of the plans that I would come up with to keep the tenants in their home is to pay their rent, or work out a repayment plan, which most LHOs have shown that they’re willing to do as far as helping those folks that may have accumulated some arrears during the time ECE was doing the assessments. But I can tell the Minister that of all the units in Paulatuk, there’s only three people that haven’t come back to get their reassessments done for that particular time and their actual assessment that they’re getting done in Paulatuk now is up to almost 100 percent, whereas before it was, like, 65 percent when ECE was doing the assessments. So there has been a great improvement there on the people getting their assessments done. Like I said, there was only three that needed to get their reassessments done. Thank you.
The assessments that are being done, in regard to the assessment, the people that are going into the corporation, some of them not wanting to go there because of certain staff, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister follow up with the officials at Housing to make sure the housing arrangements are made with the tenants of Paulatuk who are in danger of eviction? Thank you.
Thank you. In my meeting when I was up in Paulatuk, I did hear some concerns about the LHO up there. We have some new folks in there that are actually following the policy as it’s laid out and now they’re starting to make some headway as far as trying to get rent arrears taken care of, but I understand the people’s concern up there and I did say that I’d be talking to the district office about it. But again, the folks in Paulatuk, and anyone else out there that are in arrears, have to realize that there is an opportunity for them to come back to the LHOs, get their reassessments done, confirm their income, and adjustments will be made. It’s been shown in the past that this could happen and I’m sure if there were adjustments that could be made in Paulatuk, they will be made. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Short supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I’m asking the Minister, Mr. Speaker, that if we could stop all the evictions that are taking place now until they get the families to go in and get a repayment plan done and work together to keep the people in their homes instead of having the houses sitting there empty and being able to keep families in their homes and not causing grief to the family in regard to having to move into other families’ houses. There are not too many houses in Paulatuk, Mr. Speaker. There’s nowhere to go. So I’m asking if the Minister could commit to me today to stop the evictions until we can get in there and get a repayment plan for those families that are on the eviction list. Thank you.
Thank you. The residents had ample opportunity, as I said before, to work out a repayment plan, and not knowing what state we’re at right now, if it’s a rental office ordered eviction, I would have to follow up and be in contact with the Member as to the status of some of these evictions. So I’m not sure if they’re court ordered evictions. I’d have to follow up on that.
Again, I say, Mr. Speaker, the Housing Corporation is not in the business of evicting people, we’re in the business of trying to house people. We’ll do our part in making sure that happens, but they also have to do their part to make sure they don’t put us in a position where we’re left with no other choice but to follow through with the termination and the eviction process. But I will commit to the Member that I’ll follow up and I’ll see what stage we’re at and I will be in contact with the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
