Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you. That was a nice short answer. When we're talking about the hundred new homes, you know, I know there's dollars going to Indigenous groups as well. I know that the housing corporation actually bought the you know, a building here in Yellowknife as well. So how many of those hundred new homes would actually, say, go into Yellowknife versus communities outside? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister Chinna.
Thank you, Madam Chair. With the hundred unit rollout, the units were allocated outside of Yellowknife. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And out of those hundred units, you know, we talk about units being sold off and we probably talk about, as well, units, you know, being demolished whether it was because of flooding or whatever. So out of that, what is the net units that will actually be available, taking into account units sold off and demolished? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister Chinna.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll just have Jim respond because we do have some units that are scheduled to be demolished, and we do have some units that are there that we need to repair as well. We do have a project that's going to start in 20232024 of investing money into repairing our public housing units. But I'll have Jim elaborate on the response. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Vicepresident Martin.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, so the target is to deliver a hundred new public housing units. So that would be added to our existing stock of available public housing units for tenants. Now, we do recognize that there's ongoing dispositions that do occur within our portfolio. They come in different forms but one of them would be under the homeownership initiative program. But the expectation is that those units would eventually be replaced over time through subsequent capital plans and to ensure that we do realize the net increase of a hundred units. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The other thing I see here as well is you talk about in the activity description here under finance, occupational health and safety for the head office and also for district and local housing authority. One of the things I find in the communities is that it's kind of becoming an issue because we have places, for instance Riverview Lodge, which is basically for probably more single people than maybe couples. But what we're doing is we're getting a mix of people who really expect quiet enjoyment of their rooms but we are now starting to put in people who were homeless, living in the shelter. They've got addictions problems. You know, they invite people over and, you know, there's drinking going on and, in some instances, there's, you know, sale of drugs and that. And so people now are starting to find that there's a safety issue there and eventually somebody's going to get hurt if we don't do something about it. There's people that are staying in there that shouldn't be. You know, they're living in probably other areas of the buildings as well. And it's probably not unique to Hay River. You know, other buildings in other communities as well. So how much emphasis has been put on I guess in dealing with those type of issues? Because as we see an increase in drugs and alcohol and addictions, we're going to you know, that's going to be around with us for a while. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister Chinna.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And I appreciate the Member's comments as well because our clientele is changing, and safety is one of the areas that I've highlighted as well as one and with the high traffic areas as well. The only initiative that we do have here is a partnership with Northview that we do like kind of a 50/50 cost share for security because there is a lot of incidents that do happen here in Yellowknife. But we don't have any of those services outside of Yellowknife as of yet. But it's something that we could also consider in looking at the volume and what the LHOs and the LHAs may require if they have those building areas. And there are some in Inuvik as well too. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, you know, you're already doing it here in Yellowknife, but I think that we're going to have to start looking outside of Yellowknife, and Hay River is an example. And we do need somebody like, for instance, the Riverview Lodge, I'll use that as an example. There's no caretaker for it so it's kind of, you know, a free for all. And what we need is you may not need somebody there all the time but you probably need somebody there, I would say, you know, maybe 8 o'clock at night until 8 o'clock in the morning. But they could also be, you know, taking a look at the other facilities as well, like the singles. And so we could be using somebody in Hay River as security. And whether it's contracted out just for, you know, 12 hours a day, that would work, so. And the other thing is we do need some protocols in place, and policies to protect the workers because they're going into situations that they don't know anything about anymore. Like, you know, when you're dealing with drugs, it could be dangerous. So I think it's important that we really spend some time the department spends some time in developing something to ensure the safety of not only residents but also staff. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister Chinna.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll take that as a comment as well. But not only a comment, I want to bring that back to the department because if we're looking at these multibuild complex areas then, you know, in the future we're going to have to consider our clientele as well. We're going to need caretakers or securities in those buildings as well too and really recognizing the safety concerns. I don't want them want it to get worse before we can just kind of acknowledge and work with it now. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Hay River South? Okay. Member for Nunakput.
(audio) you know, just in regards I was listening to I was on a call upstairs. But listening to on the thousand houses being given away and the uptake on that. The uptake in regards to it, are we giving the houses to people that could take them over, or are we selling them the unit? Just clarity on that and the program. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister Chinna.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The homeownership program, I'll have President Young just to elaborate on that programming because I don't this is not to cause the barriers but to actually deal with the current situation should the individual be in outstanding, yes, in arrears, yes. In arrears, that I would like to see those arrears be paid up currently and then transfer the unit immediately. But I'll have President Young elaborate more on the details. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. President Young.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The program is targeted to people who currently live in single-family homes across the territory. As the Minister mentioned, some basic criteria, the arrears clearing your arrears before the sale goes through is one of the key ones. And then what happens is the ownership of the unit is transferred. And we talked about the debt component of it. We do a forgivable loan for the value of the home over three to five years, depending on the value of the home. So, under that program, they don't actually pay a purchase price, they get the unit forgiven over a period of time. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Member for Nunakput.
Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thanks for that, Minister, deputy. But the question is for that program I guess, when it's being sold or given to them, is it under the means of them taking over the power, the water, everything like that, and it's going to be given like, after so many years, given to them at no cost? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister Chinna.
Thank you, Madam Chair. That's the intent, is that they pay the debt up to zero balance and they operate and maintain that house for up to three to five years and there's no rent collected in that time being. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Nunakput.
Madam Chair, no. Just in regards to that, I mean, myself and the Minister, we've been going back and forth for the last two years in regards to something like this. The program was given the house was given to the constituent and stuff like that and then next thing you know I said, well, house is given to them; don't have to pay rent? It's given to you, and it's I guess the I thought it would be forgiven. But all this time it was they still had to pay back the debt that was owed but it was our fault as I mean, the corporation's fault for letting them wait two years, two and a half years and having them to pay. Why would that be if it's our fault, why wouldn't we take that debt on ourselves as a corporation? That's just a question. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister Chinna.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And I hear the Member as well too, because we were going back and forth and really trying to roll out this program and trying to get successful applicants. And there was a lot of back and forth going on whether the I don't know if we could speak specifically. But maybe just to the situation that an individual may want to go to the bank, outright purchase and whether they're going to pursue a lawyer, there was a lot of back and forth. But I think now going forward, I would like the Housing just to get to the point that here's the program, three to five years, pay your debt, and operate and maintain this unit for three to five years, and then we'll walk away. And I want to keep it very simple. And I've learned from that scenario. But that agreement, it should be finalized by now. We should not be owning that asset anymore. It should be handed over to the individual. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Are these units any single dwelling units that people that are living in right now are eligible for this program? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. Minister Chinna.
Thank you, Madam Chair. That is correct. But what I've seen so far is some individuals will come up to say yes, I want to own this unit and then they will come back to say maybe not. And then we're still collecting rent but they're not actually in the program. They haven't made up their mind yet and it does become very people get very concerned once they have to pay the fuel costs, the utilities and then whatever. So it's a lot of conversation that goes on in between the process. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, no, I agree with the Minister in regards like that. I mean, the fuel prices are just going up and it's going to inflation going up all over in regards to the cost of living. But how long are you expecting now, once a person comes to you, and like what's the timeline that through your department, what would you like to see on a timeline for approvals? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister Chinna.
I would like to see the approvals happen immediately. Once the debt is at a zero balance, I would like to sign off an agreement and I would like to be done. As long as we receive the outstanding, that is and it kind of gets a little bit complicated because we have to work through FMB as well. And there was a little bit of a barrier. Jim, would you be able to elaborate on yes, just with the when we're selling the units and then we have to write off the units and then there's still the outstanding on the books that have to be transferred. Yes, okay. I'll just have Jim respond. Thank you.
vicepresident Martin.
I hope I didn't confuse you.
No. Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, as the Minister alluded to, in some situations when we're dealing with clients there may be arrears that are outstanding and, certainly, you know, those would be areas that we would continue to, you know, work closely with the client on to address. Now, there may be situations, though, where there are arrears that may very well satisfy our criteria for forgiveness. And Housing NWT considers this as part of a governmentwide process every year. And in those situations, we do have to meet the strict criteria of the financial administration manual and the Financial Administration Act in this area. But it's certainly an area that we do look at seriously and do a full review every year of where we can address those arrear situations through the forgiveness approval process. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. In regards for the timeline though, the timeline and so if somebody came forward, wanted their unit, are we looking at six months? And like what's that really tight timeline because I do have constituents that want to come on the program but they're you know, they're kind of tired of waiting. But I just want to see, and then the forgiveness part. And you got a minute, 47 seconds so be brief as possible because I got one more question. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister Chinna.
Yes. Six.
You got that, Member?
Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. No, Madam Minister, like in regards to community corporations and stuff like that, I know that the department's really interested and keen on working together with local community governments in regards to builds. I'm really pushing for my Ulukhaktok and Paulatuk elders’ facilities. I've been working on this since 2007, and I'm really tired of seeing my elders in Inuvik hospital and away from family and not seen and just like they're put on a shelf. And I'm really hoping that we could try to work together with privatepublic partnership to build these units on a lease back; is that possible? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. Minister Chinna.
