Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions for the Minister of Housing about the Housing Corporation's future plans in Hay River. I'm aware that there's a seniors' planning study that was undertaken, and so, that's probably going to be fed into what becomes a broad plan for the town. Instead of asking about what's the big plan, I'll ask about some specifics. The Hay River high-rise has been an issue for years. It's been ongoing, and I've asked the Ministers questions about this before. There are many units in that building rented out to people on income assistance who are waiting for social housing to become available. If you just look at the news over the past couple of years, there are ongoing issues with the fire marshal, different structural aspects of the building, and there are concerns that this building may be shut down at some point. Every time I bring this up, I get the answer that we're working on it. We have a team that's looking at things. This team has been together for years, now. What is the plan in case the Hay River high-rise has to shut down and evict all of its residents? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right. Currently, there are no public housing units in the high-rise. It is on our agenda to take a look at, obviously, if something should happen in terms of if the building should be condemned. We need to have a plan. We are working with the leadership in Hay River to address that. Obviously, under the National Housing Co-Investment Fund that I've made statements in this House about, that provides an opportunity for partners to collaborate and work together to develop possibly a new rental construction.
We do know that that is an issue in Hay River. Like I said, it is on our agenda. The Member did make comments that we do have the seniors' planning study, is another concern that we do have in Hay River, and we are willing to continue work with our stakeholders to see how we can address this. As the Member knows, we have sat down with the new leadership in Hay River to look at how we can move forward in terms of addressing whether it's the market rental units, or even public housing in Hay River. As I've said in this House, our community housing plans are going to help us create priorities, hopefully for all our communities across the Northwest Territories, and we are looking forward to working with the Town of Hay River to address these needs. Thank you.
I, too, hope for the best, but I think we need to prepare for the worst, and it doesn't sound like there's actually a concrete plan to deal with the possibility of a lot of these people being essentially homeless if the high-rise is forced to shut down.
Another issue is the Riverview Lodge in Hay River. It's a seniors' home. It's about 40 years old, and I've heard rumours that it might be replaced. It might be demolished. I'd like the Minister to speak about what are the plans for the Riverview Lodge in Hay River?
Yes, we are going to be looking at a replacement within the next five years for that building. The Housing Corporation plans to construct the replacement seniors' complex on existing NWT Housing Corporation's own land, avoiding the need to displace the current senior tenants. We do have a plan in place moving forward. I can get more details for the Member, but there is a plan in place. As I mentioned, we're looking at a replacement within the next five years. Obviously, we don't want to displace our seniors. We want to make sure that they are in an existing infrastructure, and we will keep the Member updated on that plan.
I appreciate that answer. I'm also asking because the employees of the housing authority need to know what's going on, as well, because they're the ones who really have to work on the front line and answer these questions. The Minister mentioned that the Riverview Lodge will be built on existing housing-owned land in Hay River. There's a lot of land owned by the Housing Corporation in Hay River. There are the 26 lots all clumped together that were formerly known as Disneyland. Can the Minister give us an update on what the plans are for those lots of land in Hay River that the housing authority owns but are not being used?
The Housing Corporation currently owns six vacant lots in Hay River. Four of these lots comprise, as the Member said, the Disneyland property, which is earmarked for the replacement of the Riverview Lodge. At present, this land is required to support the NWT Housing Corporation's capital planning needs, and we'll continue to focus on that. Should any land or property be identified as surplus at a later date, the property will be disposed of in accordance with the NWT Housing Corporation's disposal policy.
Masi. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's very interesting, that they're planning on relocating the Riverview Lodge there. I didn't know that. Every week I look in the Hay River Hub, our newspaper, and I see ads from the Housing Corporation imploring residents to sell them land. You know, if private individuals have land, the Housing Corporation wants to buy it. What is the plan with all of this land the Housing Corporation is trying to buy up? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In short, we're always looking for land that will support our future capital planning and the projects that we are looking at developing. Obviously, in short, we are just looking for land that we can look at developing. As I said, the community housing plans that we are going to be working on, working with the leadership and stakeholders in the Town of Hay River, will help address the priorities that are needed. Yes, just in short, we're just looking for land that is going to help support our capital plans for the Town of Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
