Debates of October 24, 2006 (day 14)

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (English not provided)

Mr. Speaker, with my previous Member’s statement on the 182 public units in Behchoko that owe outrageous rental arrears, I would like to ask the Minister of the Housing Corporation, can the Minister explain to this Assembly how we, the GNWT, Government of the Northwest Territories, allow one public unit, as an example in Behchoko, to accumulate $76,413 in rental arrears which is still increasing? Mahsi.

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

Return To Question 170-15(5): Behchoko Public Housing Rental Arrears

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the objective we set for our local authorities is that they do have to collect in the range of 90 percent of the revenues from rents that are charged to the tenants. We also have the Rent Supp Program, which offers those tenants a subsidy on the amount of rent that is being paid either through a subsidy, do an evaluation of the tenant to determine how much they are supposed to pay. As the Member states, these go back for some time. In order for someone to end up with $76,000 in arrears, they have to either have a high, high income or haven’t paid their rent for a number of years. I think that is the problem we are having in collections and we, as a government, and as an organization, are trying to resolve this issue by ensuring that those people have options that they can look at. They can go into a payment plan, they can get into homeownership, but the important thing is they have to make the attempt to pay. It has been an issue with regard to Behchoko.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Supplementary To Question 170-15(5): Behchoko Public Housing Rental Arrears

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Minister stated, this has been an ongoing issue for quite some time now. That’s quite true. The LHO is under the umbrella of the NWT Housing Corporation. We do have the accountability there, Mr. Speaker, as the NWT government. Mr. Speaker, my next question leads to what the Minister indicated on unemployment or high employment. There is something wrong with this system, Mr. Speaker. How can people who are not employed incur debts such as $76,000 or owing an average of $11,000 when this government has a system in place such as the Housing Subsidy Program? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 170-15(5): Behchoko Public Housing Rental Arrears

Mr. Speaker, we are aware that this is an issue with regard to Behchoko by way of how their rents were collected. It was managed and administered by a community organization. We had to take this back a number of years ago. I think there is a system in place where we do have the ability to backtrack the accounts as they are on our records. But they were under a different management agreement a number of years ago, in which we realized we do have some problems with that. Again, Mr. Speaker, the principle through that local housing authority is that they do have to ensure that they do work with the clients to make sure that they either pay their rent or work through a payment plan to bring those rents down. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Supplementary To Question 170-15(5): Behchoko Public Housing Rental Arrears

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, the system is simply not working. It just goes to show here, Mr. Speaker, that what we are doing here, we are not doing anything about the arrears. It is a huge issue in the community. As the Minister has explained, the renter arrears continue to accumulate over the years without any investigations or suggestion of a solution to this problem. How is this government being accountable for the debts incurred by numerous renters continuously accumulating more and more arrears against their rent? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 170-15(5): Behchoko Public Housing Rental Arrears

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have put a call out to the tenants of the authority in Behchoko to come forward and show us exactly how the rents were calculated, give us the information that they have so that we can assess it and try to find a solution on exactly how we came up with that number. I know a number of years ago, one of my predecessors looked at the possibility of working out an arrangement with Behchoko because of this particular problem. It is a problem. We are trying to work with the Member and the community to find a solution to the problem. Again, we cannot set a precedent in one community realizing that this also has effects in other communities. So we are trying to find solutions to this problem. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Your final supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Supplementary To Question 170-15(5): Behchoko Public Housing Rental Arrears

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is my final question for the Minister. If the Minister is serious about remaining accountable as a government, he will see the urgency of the situation and investigate it immediately, Mr. Speaker. Is the Minister prepared to conduct such an investigation and get to the bottom of these things once and for all? We cannot continue with this. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 170-15(5): Behchoko Public Housing Rental Arrears

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are willing to send people into the community, sit down with each of the tenants and do an assessment tenant by tenant to see if we can come to the bottom of this problem. So I commit to the Member that I will direct my department to go into Behchoko and basically do just that by sitting down with the tenants and go with each one of them to ensure that we are being fair but also ensuring we try to find a way out of this problem. Thank you.