Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier in my Member’s statement I spoke about mould-free home constructions and mould-free techniques for building homes. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation what policies and guidelines are currently in place for our Housing Corporation to do this initiative. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The standards that we use today are basically mould-free construction. There is moisture-resistant gyproc that is used in the washrooms, and all the proper ventilation that is needed. When they move into a brand new house, they can be assured that it is a mould-free unit and if they continue to maintain the unit as it is supposed to be, it will always be mould-free. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the Minister is aware of some of the techniques that we are using, but as I have learned yesterday, there are other new materials out there. Does he know what BluWood is? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to see Mike Holmes building a house in Sachs Harbour at 40 below. Then he will see blue wood.
---Laughter
Actually, I don’t know what BluWood is. I will find out and I will get back to the Member and will share that information with him and all other Members. I can assure the Member that...(inaudible)... construction practices, if we’re able to incorporate them into our designs. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I had used that question only to show the Minister that there are new techniques and materials out there. BluWood is the new standard in construction that actually resists mould in homes. Can the Minister direct his department to start looking at mould-free construction in homes, the new materials that are out there? I think that would go a long way for our clients and constituents, if we start constructing our homes using the mould-free method. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, as I said, we are always looking at new technology that is out there and see how we can incorporate that into some of the design of the houses that we have. I still believe that you can have a house using regular wood frame and material, that as long as you maintain the unit properly and build using moisture-resistant standards, you can still have a fairly mould-free unit. We have to also understand that, in the climate that we operate in, it is awfully expensive and it is not as easily accessible as a place like Toronto where there are millions of people and thousands of places to choose materials from. We don’t have that luxury. We work with what we have. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to ask the Minister to direct his department to change some policies and guidelines that we do have mould-free construction techniques and materials and investigate it thoroughly, because that BluWood is almost the same cost as regular wood that we are using. I don’t think it would add to the construction of new homes, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister to start directing his department and looking at policies and guidelines. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I will ask the department to have a look at the different types of construction and some of his concerns that the Member had raised.
I just want to point out again that the construction that we use nowadays are construction standards that are acceptable if the units are maintained properly. There are lots of different reasons you can have mould. We can get into that discussion today or I can share them with the Member, but part of the responsibility is on the builder, obviously, and some of the responsibility, again, is back on the tenant. I will ask the department to have a look at the different technologies out there and see if we are able to incorporate them into our designs. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
