Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do have issues with this as well too because we've been advocating we've been talking here in the House since I got on, about housing. We have housing crisis in small communities. We need a lot of housing. And improving the health care system in the small communities. We have a lot of aging infrastructure as well, especially in Tlicho region. And I advocated, and my previous MLA too, advocated for a new school in Tlicho region, and we have issues with youth suicide. So with all this, I don't think I'm going to support this bill as well myself. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm if housing NWT is afraid to let go of or sell any of its assets, such as its aging housing stock because the department is department is afraid to lose any operations and maintenance funding. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the housing Minister consider transferring ownership of all housing units in the Tlicho region and other regions as well that are owned by housing NWT to the longterm tenants? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I did prepare a Member's statement but I'll do it for this. This is the right time to do it.

Madam Chair, we say that this is a consensus government, and this is not how the consensus government should be operating. The consensus government that I know in my region, they work together. They collaborate; they consult, you know, on issues that might have an impact that you know, on its citizens. So I don't see this as a consensus government. And, yes, being an Indigenous person, you know, like, since 1763 we never like, I mean, we know what the government...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this time, there are a lot of housing from the 60s and 70s that are being that are being renovated at this time. Instead of doing that, what the Minister should be doing is focusing on building more houses. So with that, Mr. Speaker, it appears that housing NWT has some competing interest here. On the one hand, they claim they want to increase homeownership across the NWT, and they want to create partnership with Indigenous governments, but they are also afraid to receive a reduction in O and M funding and are therefore hesitant to sell, to sell off any of their...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, many of these houses are old, like, they're from 60s, 70. I just want to ask the Minister what are they using to determine to sell to transfer those units. Is it assessed value, or fair market value. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is not only in Tlicho community but in other Indigenous communities as well. But in all four communities, Mr. Speaker, there are dozens of housing units that some families have lived in for decades. Many people consider these houses their forever homes and, in most cases, families have every intention to pass on these existing homes to younger family to younger family members to ensure they are housed into the future. However, Mr. Speaker, some families have told me that it came as a surprise to them when they discovered that they are not actually the...

We know that a lot of people have different view on the Indigenous language, and some are saying okay, our language is dying; some are saying our language is thriving. So what I would like to see from this government is that this government should give the Aboriginal language fund to the Indigenous government because they are the authority over the language and culture, you know. They should have more say but they should give the funding to the Indigenous government. And I don't think I don't feel comfortable in support somebody from ECE having the authority over this language. So I would...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have some elders in the community who they did they entered into refinance agreement, and some of these elders are in their 70s. I mean, that should have been forgiven long time ago. I mean, that is not acceptable. That is unacceptable, Mr. Speaker. And we have some refinancing that was done with 20 years old and that the agreement is not in their name; it is in the parent's name. The family moved into the house before the child was born, and this is where they are doing refinancing agreement with a child that who got their first job. There's quite a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have mortgages that we know people cannot pay. We have a collection policy that shows our ability to forgive residents who are in this situation.

Can the Minister explain how Housing NWT administers its collection policy and how often people are assessed and forgiven from their debts based on their ability to pay those back, those debts? Thank you.