Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I, too, attended the Northern Construction Tradeshow yesterday at lunchtime. As Mr. Hawkins had indicated, Mr. Holmes from Holmes on Homes was in attendance and gave a speech there. I really didn’t go there for the speech. I actually went there, Mr. Speaker, to congratulate a niece of mine, Ms. Tyra Moses, who got an award for top marks in the second and third-year electrical trade program.
However, the speech did catch my attention, Mr. Speaker. He spoke on many topics, and his experiences and ideas on providing safe and reliable homes to the public were refreshing. It’s true for any of the shows that I’ve watched and I’m sure of our public as well.
One issue that is becoming necessary and even standard in southern construction is mould-free housing construction. In my constituency, as I travel and visit, mould in their homes is raised with me quite often. I have been in the homes and saw the extent of these issues. Constituent homeowners want solutions, Mr. Speaker. The NWT Housing Corporation has several initiatives to combat the mould issues. However, I have learned that we can in future prevent this by building mould-free homes with mould-free materials and construction techniques.
It was said, as well, that mould-free construction will not necessarily impact the cost of construction. So I ask the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation to begin investigating this and work towards making it a policy of our Government of the Northwest Territories to have mould-free construction in any new home construction. Our constituents and clients deserve safe and reliable homes. The people know that the mould issues are affecting the health of themselves and their children. I will raise this issue with the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation during question period. Mahsi cho.
