Masi, Madam Speaker. [Translation] When I talked about the Member's statement, I talked about the elders who are living at home, how they are taken care of. A lot times, our elders are not well taken care of at home. I have a question for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. [End of translation] [Microphone turned off] ...issues in my region. In my Tlicho way or Dene way of life, we always, always take care of our elders. Allowing elders to remain in their own home is a win-win all around; for our elders, for our families, the community, and also for this government. We allow family members to live with their parents or grandparents, to look after them, and to care for them. These caretakers' income should not be considered or impacted when it comes to elders' household income in order to qualify for this program.
My first question to the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation is: that being said, why doesn't the NWT Housing Corporation and this government use common sense and assist these elders with their housing needs without all the red tape that is before them? We need to step up, be proactive, and do a better job of caring for our elders, and it's also part of our mandate. Madam Speaker, masi.
Thank you, Member. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I hear the Member's comment. I resonate with this very clearly because we have a lot of elders who do reside in our smaller communities. We do have a limited number of elders' facilities, as well. The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation has constructed nine nine-plexes throughout the Northwest Territories to work with our elders and to have them age in place. The other thing I hear the Member speaking about is the household income, where they're disqualified for programming based on the number of people who are living within that public housing unit or within their private unit, as well. This is something that I really take seriously. If elders are coming forward to apply for housing programs within the Housing Corporation, we are looking at how we are going to be calculating, how we are going to better serve our elders in the smaller communities who are residing in private homes, to try to alleviate those barriers so our programming is more adequate and it's more accessible to our people in our smaller communities.
To the Member, I will follow up with him on solutions that we are working on within the Housing Corporation to try to alleviate the number of barriers that we do have for the elders in the smaller communities to access our elders' programming. Mahsi.
We forwarded that information just the other day with pictures, and it's a real issue. Obviously, the screwdriver has been in place for a number of years, as you can tell. It's all rotten away, and it's unacceptable. The couple applied out of Whati. I'm not going into specific detail with their names. The couple applied, and the daughter is living with them, looking after them. Because of the daughter, they didn't qualify. That is due to the red tape that is before us. When can we see that red tape lifted? It's getting cold. It's almost minus 20, minus 30 in our communities now, and these elders are struggling. They can't fix the issue themselves, so we need the Housing Corporation and local housing authorities to come in, fix that simple issue. Again, it's all the paper, the red tape, "You don't qualify," and just leave it alone for a number of years. How long are we going to leave it alone? Change that red tape now.
In the Tlicho area, we do have a housing working group that opens the door for us as the Housing Corporation, us as a government, to come in and work with the Indigenous groups. This is something I want to bring back. I am looking at maybe a partnership or some sort of programming that we could work with the community, where they could identify these areas and this programming that would adequately fit the specific communities. Also, I just wanted to say that it's really disheartening and unfortunate that a member of our elders' community in the Tlicho area is experiencing this right now. I have received the email, and my department has acted on it. I know this is one of several cases throughout the Northwest Territories, and as the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, we are going to be working and addressing these issues as we go forward, because one is too many of them.
The Minister is correct: there are quite a few elders who cannot speak for themselves. In my region, they speak the Tlicho language. It's very difficult for them to access the NWT housing program. We always say there are online programs, but they can't access online programs. I am glad the Minister and her department are working with the local housing authority to establish some sort of mechanism to deal with these elders, and I certainly do not want to stand here in February or March addressing the same issue that is before us today. I am certainly hoping that it will be resolved by then. Just to continue on with my next question: what progress, and I raised this issue in the House before, has been made in creating a program under the NWT Housing Corporation so that qualified journeymen ticket holders can go into isolated communities such as my community to do this critical servicing of furnaces? We need permanent technicians in our isolated communities now, before it gets too cold.
Also, just in regard to the list of programs, I want to advise the Member that I will provide a list in February to the Member of the elders' programs that we did offer and the number of clients that we did serve within these next months coming up. Also, looking at the journeymen, entrance in trades programming is a challenge for us in the Northwest Territories but also for the Housing Corporation. We are working with the Tlicho Housing Working Group. I will identify this with our Housing Corporation staff to bring this back to the working group, that this is something we need to partner up on and we need to address, to make sure that we are working toward certified journeymen within the Tlicho area to start delivering this programming on our behalf or else in partnership to work with the Tlicho government.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Madam Speaker. An elder once told me, "Enough talking. Do the action now. Fix the problem." There is an issue here, a real challenge for this elderly couple, and I would like to know from the Minister: could we have a dedicated person to deal with these issues? I understand she is dealing with the Tlicho government, the agency, and so forth. There is lots of talk happening, but elders want to see somebody who can service the furnaces, somebody who can service the plumbing. Could we have a dedicated service person, technician, in the community to deal with those during the winter months? Masi, Madam Speaker.
The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is really very strong and adamant about Indigenous partnership. I looked at this as an opportunity as I have worked with other communities throughout the territory where we had a similar issue such as this, and the Housing Corporation was able to enter into a community initiative program with the Indigenous groups. With looking at the issue for servicing the furnaces and looking at offering programming for the seniors in the Tlicho area, I will follow up with the Member and look at a possible opportunity that we could access additional funding to look at how we are going to have a representative in his riding. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Hay River South.
