Debates of March 4, 2005 (day 49)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier in the week, I brought forward a concern about the arrears process with the Housing Corporation and the fact that there isn’t consistency in the policy. The Minister clearly stated that if you were in public housing and you had arrears, they would make a plan so that you could pay back those arrears, so you wouldn’t be kicked out. I was trying to put the spotlight on the issue that if you had arrears and you aren’t in social housing but you qualify for social housing…If you qualify for social housing and you can only pay market rate, it’s going to put you in a pickle to pay those arrears back.

Would the Minister be willing to look at this policy to make sure, for those people who qualify for social housing and have arrears but are not in social housing, that there is a consistent policy on how we collect our arrears? This question does not ignore those arrears. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Krutko.

Return To Question 545-15(3): Review Of Social Housing Policy For Arrears

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The policy is clear that if you were a former tenant and were evicted for not paying your rent and you do have arrears, the way you get back into social housing is you have to pay your arrears or attempt to pay those arrears, so you can get back on the waiting list to get back into social housing. You have to realize that in most of our local housing authorities, there is a waiting list to try to get into housing. To be fair, those people who have been evicted for not paying their rent, there is a process for them to get back on but the key is they have to pay down those arrears before they will be put on that list to get back into housing. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 545-15(3): Review Of Social Housing Policy For Arrears

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am still very concerned with this issue because I feel we are discriminating against those who are in most need. We are discriminating against them because they owe some money. I want them to pay the money back, but if they are prime candidates for social housing, they obviously are not prime candidates for market rent. Mr. Speaker, if they can’t pay market rent and we are forcing them to pay market rent, how are we ever going to get our arrears back? It’s perplexing. It’s like trying to push a rope. We are not going to get the money back. What we need is a clear, consistent…

Your question, Mr. Hawkins.

That being said, would the Minister investigate a policy where we do not discriminate against people? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 545-15(3): Review Of Social Housing Policy For Arrears

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have to realize that we have to be fair to all tenants. We can’t have a loophole for one group of tenants. You were evicted for a reason. There is a reason that you got kicked out of housing. In order to get back into public housing, you can’t skip the queue by jumping in front of the line. We have people on waiting lists who want to get into public housing who are in just as much need as the person who got kicked out. If you didn’t have a problem the first time, you wouldn’t have been evicted. There is a way to get people back into social housing or public housing and that is to pay off those arrears and then they will be put back on the list. Then they will have the opportunity to get back into public housing.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 545-15(3): Review Of Social Housing Policy For Arrears

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are still missing the point on this issue, Mr. Speaker. I have a constituent out there who is in public housing right now. I can tell you if he wasn’t in public housing, his arrears as they were a few months ago, which were $2,000 or $3,000…This is a single guy with four kids and I can’t imagine him paying market rent forever. When he qualifies for public housing, he wouldn’t get in on this system. So how would he be able to afford to get into public housing if he has to pay his arrears? I think the policy is truly discriminating…

Mr. Hawkins, do you have a question?

Mr. Speaker, I do. Is the Minister willing to talk about this to make sure that this policy is consistent, fair and doesn’t discriminate against people?

I didn’t hear a question there, Mr. Hawkins. It was more or less a statement. Did you want to rephrase that, Mr. Hawkins?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would this Minister look into that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 545-15(3): Review Of Social Housing Policy For Arrears

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to sit down with the Member and work with the person he’s talking about and see if there is a way we can work it through. You talk about being fair, but you have to realize that people presently are trying to get the opportunity to get into public housing. We have people on the waiting list who are trying to get in, but the people who were already there, were evicted and now are trying to find a way to get back in. The whole idea is to be fair to all tenants, regardless of whether they are on a waiting list. There are ways to work it out, but the key is you have to pay down those rental arrears to be able to get back into public housing. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Your final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Supplementary To Question 545-15(3): Review Of Social Housing Policy For Arrears

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s not a question of not being fair. No one is suggesting that anyone needs to jump ahead of the queue. There is a priority system that they go forward with. We can’t even get them on the list to get them in the priority system. So, Mr. Speaker, that’s the question I need the Minister to answer. Will he look at the system to make sure we can get them on that list? If they are in desperate need, they need to be on that list. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 545-15(3): Review Of Social Housing Policy For Arrears

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, we have been getting direction from this House to do a better job on our collections and we are doing that by ensuring that people with arrears work out arrangements and have a payback plan with the local authority to pay off those arrears. For those individuals who have been evicted from public housing, it’s clear; if you want to get back into public housing, you have to pay down those arrears before you will be put back on the list.