Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier, I spoke of mould in new construction and mould in the Northwest Territories, and my questions are for the Minister of Housing. Mr. Speaker, to date, what kind of public information initiatives has the Housing Corporation delivered to educate residents on mould prevention and remediation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think education, client education, in terms of public housing is key in preventing such things as mould, also with our repair programs. Specifically speaking about the mould issue, we have incorporated mould-prevention information with our STEP home maintenance and repair course as well as provided information on our website, and I encourage anyone who might be experiencing any kind of mould issues just to take a look on our NWT Housing Corporation website. They have got a lot of information on there to help assist in terms of prevention as well as cleaning and how to present it from happening. Any of our public-housing tenants who are experiencing mould in the small communities, I also encourage them to contact their local housing organizations. We are also working with homeowners to address some of the issues that they have. So NWT Housing Corporation have been very strong educators in terms of how to address the issue around mould, and we will continue to work with our tenants as well as even our homeowners in our communities.
I appreciate the response. It's good that the LHOs also do outreach in the communities where people do not have access to the Internet. Mr. Speaker, when the Housing Corporation builds new units, how are these units built with moisture management and mould prevention in mind?
Mr. Speaker, the NWT Housing Corporation installs moisture-resistant drywall in bathrooms to reduce the chances of mould. Proper use and maintenance of ventilation systems by tenants and homeowners also helps to prevent mould formation. We evaluate new products for potential use in new construction when we are building new units in the communities, and keeping in mind you need northern considerations, such as transportation costs and installation. We also work with our partners. As the Member knows, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation has been a big partner in terms of building new units up in the Beaufort Delta region. They have installed heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, so HVAC, equipment in the units, and they are helping address some of these issues. They are more modern. They are more energy efficient, and hopefully will be easier to maintain as we move forward.
I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, it's good, and I would like to encourage the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation on better construction methods and also more culturally appropriate housing for people who live on subsistence harvesting. Mr. Speaker, if residents are living in a Housing Corporation unit with mould problems, what steps can they take to see the issue diagnosed and addressed?
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, first and foremost, I would encourage any tenants who might feel that they are experiencing mould to contact their LHOs. The LHOs also do annual inspections for things such as mould and try to address it before it gets out of hand, I guess you can say, or gets too large to manage. The NWT Housing Corporation can also perform air-quality testing to see if there are mould spores in the air, and we also conduct preventative maintenance on units, like I mentioned, on an annual basis. So we are doing things in the communities. We are doing things in our public housing units to prevent this. As I mentioned, anybody that needs any information on that, needs to become educated, we have a lot of information on our website. If you don't have connection to the website, I encourage you to go in and see your local housing officer in your communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
