Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment with regard to the housing crisis we have in Aklavik and other communities throughout the Territories.
The government, in the past, implemented several initiatives related to the Market Housing Initiative. This was done through the Housing Corporation to build capacity in the communities that were non-market communities in regard to units that were designed for teachers and whatnot. Also, there is a government program, the Corporate Loan Guarantee Program, which is used to assist the private sector to get into market housing opportunities.
In light of this situation we have in the Mackenzie Delta…. It has come up at the divisional meetings I’ve been at. It has come forward by way of letters from the Divisional Board of Education and also from the Minister’s meeting held this summer with me and Ms. Lee in the community of Aklavik. So it has been out there for some time. I’d like to ask the Minister: exactly what is this department doing to stem this problem?
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. With respect to the Member’s riding in Aklavik, dealing with the housing shortage or the unit that’s closed down, we have been working with the local DEA and the band, and also with the Development Corporation, because they are the ones that own the facility. We have our superintendent going to a meeting with certain parties there. We are doing what we can as the Department of Education, because we have to look after our teachers as well.
I understand there have been some meetings in the last couple of days with Mr. Furlong. I believe there has been some alternative housing that may have been identified, and it’s being worked on. So I think we’re going to come up with some solutions there, but it takes the community, our department and the Member working together to find a solution. I think we’ve come to that. We’re hoping that a solution will be identified before the November 3 deadline.
Again, we find ourselves reacting and not being proactive. As government we did have staff housing in just about all the communities in the Northwest Territories by way of professional staff housing for teachers. A lot of these units are still in our communities, and they are over 30 years old. They are in urgent need of repairs and upkeep.
I’d like to ask the Minister: what are we doing to improve the housing stock in our communities throughout the Northwest Territories by way of professional housing for staff such as teachers, nurses and other professionals?
Mr. Speaker, within our department we’ve done some overall inventory of the housing units that are available in the 33 communities we serve. We do have that information. Also, for this year with the teachers, the majority have found suitable housing units to stay in.
But the Member is right. We need to plan now for next year and the following years on how we can mitigate these issues or challenges we’re faced with. It’s not only us; it’s throughout Canada as well, but throughout the North especially.
This is one of the priorities we’ve identified. We’ve had several meetings on this particular item, and this is going to be an ongoing discussion. We definitely need to have a plan in place to deal with this specific item.
I mentioned the program earlier on in regard to the Market Housing Initiative that was put in place. It was a lot of upkeep, mostly in the southern part of the territory, and we’re working our way north, but we haven’t heard much from that program in a while.
I’d like to ask the Minister of Education: has he been working with the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation to ensure we maybe consider either expanding the Market Housing Initiative in those communities where we don’t have market housing provided by the private sector or else the possibility that we could use existing housing facilities that are not occupied but are basically still functional for emergencies such as this throughout the Territories?
Mr. Speaker, the Market Housing Initiative, as the Member would know, has been with us for a number of years now. I’ve been working closely with the former Minister of Housing as well as with the current Minister on identifying the units that are probably vacant and can be utilized in the community. We met yesterday as well, talking about market housing — the rent at the community level, where some rents are $700 per month and some rent at $2,200 and so on. That’s what we’ve been talking about: how we can make it attractive for teachers and other professionals working with the development corporation and also the Member and the band. It is coming from the community, especially the small communities that are lacking the housing for staff.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I definitely look forward to working along with the Minister and other Ministers to resolve this problem. It is unique to small, isolated communities, especially where it’s a non-market community.
I’d like to ask the Minister, along with the Minister of Housing, if he can provide us with any information he was able to compile on this situation in regard to where the units are located and where we don’t have units so that in the affected communities we know exactly what situation we’re in and the same information is being shared between the affected parties.
I’d like to thank the Minister for taking on this challenge. More importantly, keep us in the loop; share that information with the affected Members so we know the exact status of the professionals’ housing in our communities. I’d like to ask the Minister if he can release that information.
We can certainly provide the information we have within my department of Education, Culture and Employment. I did talk about the inventory we have on hand and the number of vacant units that may be available.
I need to continue to work with Minister McLeod, the Housing Minister, on this particular item as well, because they’re the ones that have all the inventories of the units at the community level. We’ll provide that to the Member and also keep the Member informed of what’s happening in the community of Aklavik and also Members in the isolated communities. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
