Thank you, Madam Speaker. We have many problems of housing within our communities. In my region, in 2009 the NWT Housing Corporation considered 40 percent of the homes to be in core need. We are always talking about public housing, but we have lots of homeowners in the Mackenzie Delta. In Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic, almost half of the homes are privately owned. In Aklavik it is about one-third, but that is still about 80 houses.
Many homeowners have a hard time keeping their houses in good shape. Upkeep in Fort McPherson or Aklavik is a far cry from a situation in Yellowknife. If you want to replace a window, a door, insulation, or some siding, you will probably have to order it and then wait quite awhile before it arrives. When it does, the freight will add a lot of costs.
You can’t just call your contractor to do the work. In many small communities there are very few contractors. If you do find qualified people to repair or maintain your house, it is very expensive. Some homeowners just can’t afford it. This is especially true for elders who can no longer do the basic maintenance themselves. That is how good houses slide into core need. If it goes on too long, these houses become unfit to live in.
You know that the NWT Housing Corporation plans to improve its care of home maintenance programs. The goal is to make it easier to access and increase the assistance limit to $3,000. But these changes are not due until August. We will miss the summer season in the Delta and Nunakput.
You know very well that $3,000 does not go very far in most of the communities. I don’t see much home maintenance and training being done. I would like to see local teams making rounds of homes in need of repair and doing the work at an affordable cost. We could use the jobs too. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
