Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today in my Member’s statement I spoke about the recent Elders Parliament and the recommendation made by the elders to delay the implementation of the proposed changes to the public housing rent scale that will affect all seniors throughout the Northwest Territories. I kind of wondered about that. One of the things that some elders have raised with me is they’ve been living in the same house for many decades and I kind of wondered how this perhaps could affect them.
My question to the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation is that the Minister recently released a new strategic plan for Housing. Is there anything in that strategic plan that is specifically directed to the housing needs of elders?
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We feel that at the Housing Corporation we look after our seniors quite well. We have a number of programs that are designed especially for seniors; seniors Home Maintenance Repair Program. We feel that we look after their needs pretty good. We have a lot of seniors we recognize are living independently and they’re receiving no assistance from anyone and they still have the same bills to pay. So we try and do what we can as a corporation to look after the seniors’ needs.
There are a couple of new initiatives that we plan on rolling out within the shelter policy review. We had an opportunity to discuss those with committee and we’re receiving some feedback and then we’ll make those programs that we’re planning to offer public.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is just to perhaps explore options. As I indicated, elders have been living in homes for many years. They’ve raised their families and have paid rent for many years and they face an increase. I wonder if the Minister could tell me if there are options out there for elders to take over ownership of the houses where in some cases they have been paying rent for decades.
We recognize that we have a lot of seniors that have been in these units for, as the Member has said, decades and almost since some of the units were built in the ‘70s. There’s always an opportunity there to discuss with the seniors the option of purchasing the unit. We look at the value as it pertains to the community that they’re in and we work out something with them.
But we also have to recognize that it’s quite a jump to go from paying, well, zero in some cases, now $70 to $80 depending on where you live, to having to maintain the unit on your own.
It costs us an average of $16,000 a year to maintain a unit, and that includes a seniors unit. It can go as high as $24,000 in some cases. We have to be sure that we do our homework with them and not set them up for potential failure, as much as we would like them to be homeowners. We’ve also taken the initiative in some cases where seniors have been living in the houses for years, they’ve moved out, so they’re kind of over-housed with a three-bedroom house and just the senior, but we recognize the sentimental value that the unit has to the senior so we do keep them in there for as long as we can.
I like what the Minister is saying in terms of an opportunity that perhaps could be explored with the elders. Would the Minister of the Housing Corporation be willing to look at transferring ownership of those units? We’ve done this, I think perhaps this government has done, surplus and aged homes that are perhaps beyond maintenance but at the same time are respectable units that elders have occupied, to see if the Housing Corporation would look at transferring ownership of those units at no cost to the elders.
We’re always willing to look at that option; however, as I said before, we have to ensure that we don’t set the seniors up for failure. To go from zero right now to having to maintain the unit yourself, there’s quite an extensive cost to that. We want to make sure we work with the seniors to be comfortable that they are able to take over home ownership of the house. There’s always that option there and we’re more than willing to explore that with the seniors that have been living in their units for a long period of time.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
