Mr. Speaker, earlier in my Member’s statement I spoke of the serious issue of lack of housing for teachers, and I’d like to ask the Minister of ECE some questions.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister advise me if the department has any strategy for providing teachers’ housing in smaller non-market communities?
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Lafferty.
Mr. Speaker, we realize that housing is a big issue in the Northwest Territories, especially for professional staff that we have in small communities and those most isolated communities. Our department has been working with the communities, with the leadership, with the Housing Corporation. I’d just like to highlight that we’ve met with district education authorities, the council and also with the superintendent this past couple of weeks in Norman Wells. We did highlight housing as one of the priorities of our discussion, and there have been a couple of options that were brought forward.
Mr. Speaker, I’m glad to say that our department is following up on those options. Follow-up meetings will be undertaken, and I will certainly address that with Members here. Mahsi.
Can the Minister advise the House if there is any dialogue that’s tied to developers as far as providing private market housing in non-market communities?
Like I said, the ongoing consultation will be between the superintendents, the DEAs and our department. It’s all preliminary right now. Certainly the private contractors will play a role. We are working closely with the Housing Corporation as well. They have dialogues with local contractors in the communities. What it comes down to now is forming a partnership with the communities. We are in the process of forming a partnership with both ECE and the Housing Corporation and with the small communities that were faced with housing shortages.
Can the Minister advise the House of anything specific that he can mention in the House about what type of work has occurred between ECE and the Housing Corporation in this area?
I appreciate the Member’s questioning of this area. We have had a dialogue with the Housing Corporation and our department, and we are coming up with options. We are doing some pilot projects in one of the communities where there is a loan guarantee from the Housing Corporation on to the contractor in the community to build units. That’s an area that we are focusing on, as well as an immediate plan. For long-term plans we are coming up with options to consider from the superintendents, the DEA chairs. Certainly those will be taken into consideration to deal with the housing shortages in the Northwest Territories for all 33 communities.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister commit to a continued dialogue with the DEAs on housing teachers and report back to the House within six months so that we can get an update on any progress on housing for teachers?
This is an important topic. It’s one of the priorities of the Northwest Territories, so certainly, yes, I will commit to keeping the Members informed of the progress we’re making.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
