Great question.
As part of the rent scale review, I mean, this is one of the things that we were hoping to have a look at, is exactly what the Member and a bunch of other Members, and not just Members, it’s actually people across the Northwest Territories. So it’s a message that we’ve heard and it’s one that obviously we’re going to have to have a look at and see if this is something that we should consider doing. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I will keep it short. When might we, as Members, and when might the public start to see this research start and when might we see some sort of recommendations coming out of this review? Thank you.
As we speak we’re doing a review of the rent scale right now and this is a discussion I’ve had with senior management over at the Housing Corporation. As for an exact time frame of this particular one, I know we’re hoping to have the rent scale review completed and implemented by April 1st. But as far as the actual questions the Member is asking, I’m not sure of an exact time frame. I will confirm that and I will pass it on to committee. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask my question to the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
No way.
I spoke earlier about the eligibility and it’s a concern as I travel around to my communities within my riding. A lot of people are saying that they’ve applied, they’ve got their rejection letter saying that they’re not eligible. So it raises the concern to me, Mr. Speaker, just how many people are eligible for NWT Housing programs. We’ve got a community core need income threshold level. So I’d like to ask the Minister just what range of a client are we looking for. How much can they make? Well, he can pick one of the communities in my riding. How much can they make and what’s the lower limit they can make too, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s our intent to try and get as many people into homeownership as possible. That’s why I’ve asked the corporation to come up with a few different options as to how we can fit more people in the program. The core need income threshold is one of the arguments that we’ve heard quite a bit. It varies from the different communities as to the number of bedrooms in that particular community, the maximum construction costs. I have a list of all the core need income thresholds for all the communities across the Northwest Territories. I can commit to the Member that I can have copies printed off and distributed to the Regular Members. Thank you.
In some of our communities in the Northwest Territories we did get some new houses, but the number of affordability problems continues to increase and this trend raises questions about eligibility for housing programs. So just once again, perhaps if I ask a different question a different way, Mr. Speaker, if I can. The current intake was completed October 14th. Does the Minister have enough statistics to compare the number of clients that applied this year as compared to the last three years? Thank you.
The applications that we’ve received, as Members know, the deadline was October 15th. The applications that we’ve received for PATH, that’s the actual homeownership, we’ve got 110 assessments that we’re doing right now. As far as applications for the HELP units, we have 183 territorial-wide that we’re doing the assessments on right now. Thank you.
I was just trying to get a comparison to the intake for this year and how many people are actually eligible as opposed to the intake we took from last year or, say, the year before. Thank you.
The numbers that I gave were the applications that we received for the coming fiscal year, the ‘11-12 fiscal year. Those assessments are still underway. We’ve only had about a week and a half since the close of the applications. So as far as the actual numbers that were approved, we don’t have that number yet. Once the assessments are done, then we’ll have the number of applicants that have been approved. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. In terms of the eligibility guidelines, should you have a community that doesn’t have enough applicants or else a lot of applicants are being rejected because of those guidelines, is the Minister willing to consider reassessing or relaxing his guidelines so that people in the upper limit, people that are over this net can be eligible for programming and some flexibility for the lower incomes as well? I believe that the people who can afford it should be in those units. Thank you.
I agree with the Member 100 percent, that people that can afford and are able to look after those units should be in there. That’s why I’ve given direction to the NWT Housing Corporation to have a look at the number of clients that may be over this net. If we started going too low, the lowest net, then I’m just afraid we may be setting some people up for failure and we may get some quick claim units because once they’re in there and realize what a cost it is to pay for your own fuel and power and other utilities, then they realize that there was a lot more to it than they thought. But I have asked the corporation to look at the number and I’m quite confident that we’ll get a few more people that we can get into a lot of these vacant units and into homeownership in the NWT. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of the Housing Corporation. Getting back to my Member’s statement, obviously the decision of the last government to transfer responsibility for social housing was a decision of the last government, Mr. Speaker. For however long I think about this, I’ll never ever comprehend or understand why that decision was made in the first place, but I want to get back to something else I spoke about in my statement. That is responsibility.
This government was elected in 2007 and it took them over two years to reverse that decision. One of the first meetings that Regular Members had with this government early on in the life of this government was to address the transfer of that Social Housing Policy from Housing to ECE. When that $30 million was taken from the Housing Corporation by ECE it seemed to happen just like that, in the blink of an eye. I’m wondering why it is taking so long to get the money back to the Housing Corporation from ECE.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Interjection
I’m getting tired.
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Anybody want to fill in for me, go ahead.
Mr. Speaker, as far as transferring the money back to the NWT Housing Corporation, Members will see that I think during this session as part of the supp process, as far as the reason it took so long, there were some details we had to work out with ECE. The actual block of money for the administration of the public housing rental subsidy is going back to the Housing Corporation and it will be done by the end of this Assembly.
I just wondered if the Minister could explain why one government could just walk in and take the money, even though, Members, I recall there are a few Members on the other side of the House that were here at the time, we initially denied the request to take that money. However, it was done anyway and it just happened just like that. I’d like to ask the Minister how it is that one government could easily take that money and transfer it and with this government it’s taking its time to get the money back to the Housing Corporation. If it could happen quickly then, why can’t it happen as quickly now?
That process was during the 15th. I can’t speak for the amount of time it took for it to go over then.
Being a Regular Member in the 15th Assembly, there were a lot of motions coming forward to transfer the responsibility of assessments back to the LHOs. One of the first things that we did as the 16th Assembly was try to get the responsibilities back to the LHOs, because we heard the two motions that we heard from the people across the Northwest Territories. We heard from LHOs that thought it should be back with the LHOs.
The transfer of the money back to the Housing Corporation is an item that’s before the House. I can assure the Member that it will be something that will be completed by the end of this session.
Ultimately the government did make the right decision and listened to the Regular Members of this House and listened to the public across the Northwest Territories who suggested that it was the wrong decision. I’m glad that they did eventually listen.
I’d like to ask the Minister, I know that he’s privy to the discussions on the 11 or 12 positions that were needed at ECE to administer the program. Even though it doesn’t fall under the mandate of the Housing Corporation, I know he’s been involved in discussions with his counterpart in ECE on those positions and what the status is of the HR plan dealing with those positions at ECE.
That was part of the discussions with ECE, was the positions. When it was transferred over, I believe the Housing Corporation gave up five or six positions, if I’m not mistaken, as part of the transfer back. I believe we’re getting the five or six positions back with the Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister when Regular Members might be able to see a comprehensive human resource plan related to the provision of the Social Housing Policy.
The details of the money transfer are going to be in the supp documents that we are discussing. As far as a comprehensive human resource plan, we are more than willing to sit with the Regular Members, as we have on a couple of occasions, and give them briefings on what the Housing Corporation is doing. I can commit to the Member that we can have the human resource plan as part of any future briefings that committee may wish.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I spoke of some failed programs that have cost the Housing Corporation or this government millions of dollars, with no actual reduction as far as core needs go because the units are not being used. I have questions for the Minister of Housing. Would the Minister consider transferring homeownership responsibilities to the communities, along with the appropriate resources?
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s always something that we’re willing to listen to. If communities have a desire to take over the provision of delivering public housing, then that’s something, obviously, we’d have to listen to. We’ve had one community that has tried it and realized that it’s a bigger challenge than they realized and it was transferred back to the Housing Corporation. We’re always open to listening to discussions as to the delivery of housing in the communities.
The Minister said he would look into the transfer of responsibility for homeownership. If that can’t be done across the board, would the Minister look at it as a backup, a contribution agreement signed with either the local housing organizations or the aboriginal governments of the community to deliver homeownership programs in the communities?
The original question I thought the Member was referring to the transfer of the public housing delivery by, as I understood him, the Member means all things housing into the community, homeownership included. Obviously, again, as I said in my first response, it’s something that we would consider doing. If communities feel that they’re far enough along that they can effectively deliver housing programs in the community, then it’s obviously something that as a corporation we would have to obviously listen to.
As we’ve seen and heard in the House today, the peer programs that the Housing Corporation is delivering right now don’t seem to have a positive impact on the communities. Would the Minister be prepared to look at revamping all homeownership programs and separate programs between market and non-market communities?
One thing we hear across the Northwest Territories and probably one of the biggest employers and sources of funding that goes into each community is through housing, whether it be building new units or working for the local housing authorities. I have to disagree. I think there is a bit of a positive impact on the communities. I have seen communities where the LHOs have done all their own modernization and improvement instead of bringing contractors in. They keep people employed for the summer, six months, then they can qualify for other benefits. There is some positive impact. There are challenges that housing faces. I can assure the Member as part of the whole Housing Choices evaluation, which we’re going to undertake soon, that we’re going to look at all areas in the delivery of homeownership across the Northwest Territories. If there are improvements that need to be made, then obviously we will make them.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In all fairness, the Minister is correct; there are positive impacts to the delivery of housing at the community level in as far as employment for the community and a good business for some of the local contractors and so on. I don’t want the Minister to get me wrong. I was purely talking about the impacts on the homeowners, not so much what happens with employment in the community.
If the Housing Corporation makes a decision to develop new programs, to revamp programs, would the Minister do this in consultation with the communities?
Obviously it would be unwise for us as a corporation to not listen to what people of the Northwest Territories have to say as far as provision of housing goes. It would be unwise of us not to listen to what Regular Members have to say as far as the provision and delivery of housing programs across the Territories. The short answer is yes, we would talk to as many people across the Territories and keep updating the Regular Members on those consultations as they happen.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My oral questions will be directed to the Minister of the Housing Corporation, which I’m sure he’s completely surprised. I will be following up on my Member’s statement as I talked about the affordability issue and adequacy issue in my Member’s statement.
Can the Minister explain what actions are being taken about the affordability challenge in Yellowknife?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
The delivery of public housing in Yellowknife is one that goes hand in hand with the delivery of public housing across the Northwest Territories. As far as the affordability in Yellowknife, they have a very vibrant housing market here and there’s an ability that’s not available in a lot of the smaller communities to access some of the market housing in Yellowknife.
