Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I talked in my Member’s statement about the calculation of income on rents and I want to ask the Minister here, probably for people who are in public housing who get the rent assessment, and they go through the calculations of income to pay the rent, and they pay CPP and EI when they’re working, and when they’re not working they also ask for their income and they also get calculated on their EI. Some of the people are saying that Housing is double-dipping into the rental income. I want to ask the Minister if that’s true.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During the consultations across the Northwest Territories on the rent policy review, one of the things that we heard from people was they wanted a system that was fair, more predictable and simple. That’s why we had gone from 421 different rental assessments down to 22. We responded to those concerns. Some of the items that the Member mentioned, the EI payments especially, well, EI payments are usually to provide for the basic necessities of life; food and shelter being two of them, and clothing.
The calculation of the income to the rent, the people in Deline are saying, again, that housing is double-dipping into the process here. They are being calculated on CPP and EI when they’re working, and when they apply for EI, that EI is calculated into their rent assistance. So they’re saying that Housing is double-dipping. Plus, there’s the Child Tax Benefit that goes towards Pampers, milk and food, and Housing is also charging them that benefit. Is the Minister going to look at this again to see if this is true? Is Housing double-dipping?
Again, I don’t believe the Housing Corporation or the LHOs are double-dipping into the income. We do go by gross income while they’re employed and then once they’re unemployed, then we would use whatever benefits they may be getting from unemployment insurance.
As far as the Child Tax Credit goes, again, it’s to provide for the basic necessities of life, and shelter is usually number one on the list.
I would like it if the Minister would come to the Sahtu and come to Deline and explain this process here as simply as possible to the people in Deline on this issue here. They still feel that they are being double-dipped by the Housing Corporation and that that’s not fair.
I’ll ask the Minister if he would make a commitment to come to Deline and explain this process to the people in Deline.
Before all these rents went into place, there was a lot of discussion between the LHO tenant relations officer and the clients to explain the situation. We can have staff go in there again. I have tried a couple of times to travel with the Member into the Sahtu, and I would be willing to go possibly again into the Sahtu after Christmas or after the New Year. But my preference would be to have staff, who know a lot more about how rent is being calculated, explain to the residents of Deline and the Sahtu, and I would be present, too, if things work out the way they should. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
