Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up with my statement earlier today with questions to the Minister of the Housing Corporation. We are making some progress on transitional housing here in Yellowknife. We have the Bailey House, transitional housing run by the YWCA, and the Betty House is under construction.
Could the Minister remind us what the Housing Corporation’s understanding of the purpose of these transitional housing units is? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The purpose of these transitional houses is to get people to transition, if they’re homeless or if they need a temporary place, to move into transitional housing, from there either try to get into the public housing or market housing or homeownership. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister. That’s my understanding too. The clients that are accepted into transitional housing are generally not well off financially. They may have even been homeless in the recent past.
Given that situation, where does the Minister think that these people are going to transition to after just a few months? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. The people that are in these units, our hope is to see them transition, I think, in most cases, into the public housing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, these people are trying to turn their lives around. They have taken the first steps, but then they find themselves at a dead end.
Could the Minister confirm that the Housing Corporation has integrated its programs with the Transitional Housing programs, and that clients in transitional housing will be prioritized for appropriate public housing above the clients who are homeless who could then be put into transitional housing? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, as far as prioritizing them, we have a point rating system to get into public housing. There are a number of things that are taken into consideration: crowding of their current housing, the housing condition that they are living in now, affordability of their current housing. There are also some other factors that are taken into consideration like the income, the length of time that they’ve been on the waiting list and whether they are a victim of family violence or have a disability or any kind of health condition. There are a number of factors that are taken into consideration when the local public housing authorities do the point rating system, and obviously being in a transitional home, they would be point rated like everyone else because we have to ensure that all factors are taken into consideration when public housing is being allocated. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
The result is that those in transitional housing have to choose to be homeless and put themselves in very risky situations in order to get on the public housing list.
The Housing Corporation has a new program to assist with rental payments, which is great, but I was surprised to learn that clients that pay $1,400 per month to live in the YWCA’s rental units are not eligible. It is hardly surprising that people end up leaving the territory.
Again, why is the Housing Corporation setting up barriers to people who are trying to transition to a better life?
People have to realize that by making themselves homeless, I mean, they’re still given certain points, but I would encourage people not to make themselves homeless thinking that it gives them an opportunity to get to the top of the list because, as I’ve said before, there are many factors that we take into consideration.
I don’t believe that the Housing Corporation puts up barriers. I think, if anything, the Housing Corporation eliminates some of those barriers by having people more eligible for a lot of the programs that we have. With the Rent Supplement Program, it’s a fantastic program and we’re having good uptake on it across the Northwest Territories. It’s for market rental, and the folks in some of these transition homes, the homes are already subsidized. We provide some assistance to these homes, so it’s more geared towards the market rental side of it.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
