Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I talked about Housing Corporation programs. I have questions for the Minister.
Can the Minister advise this House if he is willing to create or revitalize programs that are more congruent to smaller, non-market communities?
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We just went through an exercise and review and a whole program change to look at our programs to see how well they are delivered and how well the communities understand the criteria and what is being provided. We reduced our programs to four programs. We think they’ve been targeted to a wide range of the population of the Northwest Territories.
The Member has indicated in his statement that one size certainly doesn’t fit all, and we agree. We’ve got programs that are targeted to low income families and communities. We have targeted programs for families who want to own their own homes. We’ve targeted programs so that we can assist people who are above the threshold and can’t receive financial support from us. We can work with them to work through the system to the financial institutions and help them with some of these designs.
Mr. Speaker, I’m not sure where the Member would like us to go with it. I believe and I think most communities would believe that our programs are geared toward all the population of the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise this House exactly when the next needs survey will be completed? When can we advise communities of the results of the next needs survey?
We’ve had a community needs survey completed and presented in 2004. That was shared with Members of this House and the general public. We also had in 2006 a housing data census. The next community housing needs will be done in 2009. Mr. Speaker, that’s the information we use to allocate our budget, based on this information.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise this House if he’s willing to look at an allocation model that is based on percentage of need, and not on the number of people who need housing, community by community — in effect, allocating to communities most in need?
I’m pleased to sit down with the Member and discuss the concept he’s presenting. We do currently provide housing allocations and housing budgets based on core needs, and we look at the national average. We also look at what is the core need in each community. I fully recognize that the two communities that the Member represents are above the core need average, so I would be pleased to sit down and talk to him about it.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I mentioned that houses built under the current allocating system in the communities are now being sold in the private market, because there are no people in need in the community who fit the program. Can the Minister ensure that the allocation of money and proceeds from sales of any units, NWTHC units, anywhere in the Northwest Territories are allocated on a system that is agreed to on this side of the House — in other words, using the percentage system, the aforementioned system?
I would have to get more clarity on the Member’s comments on how we allocate the units. We certainly feel that our current system is fair. We base it on core need, and we try to balance the investment between public housing and home ownership. However, I would certainly need to have more discussion to fully understand where he would like us to embark with the new allocation.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
