Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you can see, we’ve chosen today, as a group of resident Members, to talk about housing, the delivery of housing in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, it is a daunting and big challenge to balance the interests of the people who need housing, with our policies, with trying to reward people who are diligent and who are trying their hardest, and those who sometimes are a frustration to the system, and perhaps even may I go as far as to say may abuse the good heartedness and the good policies of this government. It is trying to find that balance of rewarding the people who need housing with housing units and who are responsible and, at the same time, Mr. Speaker, having enough flexibility and enough balance in the system that we are good stewards of these resources as a government.
Mr. Speaker, not only is this a challenging task for the Minister and the folks at the Housing Corporation, but also when you get down to the local housing organizations. I know that people are doing their best, but these are challenging situations. Every tenant is an individual and their situation is individual. It’s very difficult to make across-the-board policies, because sometimes things happen. I’ve stood in this House many times and given examples of people who have moved away, who’ve come back to town, who have to now wait for the six-month waiting period to get into social housing. There are many, many instances where I believe we need to give someone, whether that is one person or our managers, the discretionary latitude to make judgment calls based on the circumstances before them. It is not all neat and tidy. As diverse as our clients are in housing, so are our communities.
I see the need in small communities where the Housing Corporation is the only landlord in town -- that is one scenario -- to market communities where people do have options and they require housing. But the policies in these two very diverse sets of circumstances in communities are also, in my opinion, not significantly enough taken into consideration with the creation of policy and how we deliver housing in the Northwest Territories.
These are challenging situations. I don’t pretend to have all the answers. I would like to thank the Housing Corporation for the work that they do and also the LHOs for the good work they do on the front line on our behalf.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
