Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of the Social Envelope Committee. Like many social issues, the housing crisis I mentioned in my statement cuts across several departments.
Could the Minister provide some background on how we got here? Why is it that the Housing Corporation has a limit on public housing units while at the same time ECE is paying sky high market rents to house over 100 families? I believe it’s 130 here in Yellowknife. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can’t talk to the details about the NWT Housing Corp’s programs, but I would encourage the Member to follow up with the appropriate Minister.
What I can say is that I listened intently to the Member’s opening comments and Member’s statement. The issues he is bringing up are consistent with issues that he brought up during the winter session about conflicts in departments and having barriers to providing quality services to our residents. At that time I did get a copy of the Member’s statement with a list of samples and examples of areas where he felt, and others have felt, that there are serious barriers to service delivery.
As the Minister responsible for the social envelope, I did direct the deputy responsible to pull together the types of issues that the Member and other Members have shared about these types of conflicts. We have also directed them to dig into the departments and seek out examples that are similar. We have pulled together over 50 from the departments and added the samples that have been provided by Members.
As we have been going through this, it’s clear that some of these barriers and some of the challenges that the Member is talking about, some of them are due to communication and perception and not clearly understanding some of the rules. Clearly, we as a government need to do far better at explaining and helping our public understand some of the programs and services. But at the same time, there are some that clearly, without a doubt, as a result of conflicting priorities and policies within the departments.
We have directed departments to work together through the Social Envelope Committee to identify which ones are more communication-based, which ones are policy-based and come back with recommendations on how to start breaking down these barriers and remove them so that our residents are not forced to go into poverty or to have the housing challenges that have been identified over time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks to the Minister. This is the latter case, policy failures. I hope I’ve exemplified that in yet another example here. I would encourage the Minister of the Social Envelope Committee to speak to his colleagues. That’s why I’m speaking to this Minister on cross-departmental issues. I cannot speak to each of them and address these issues. That’s why we’re failing and that is exactly why we have a Social Envelope Committee. I encourage the Minister to find out why it is that the Housing Corporation has a limit on public housing as well, at the same time ECE is paying sky high market rents. Neither Minister can answer that question. This is a Social Envelope Committee question.
Would the Minister agree that public housing, with its sliding rent scale and relative stability, is a more effective way of providing housing for families in need while they make the productive choices we encourage, more effective that is, than using income support to pay rent in market housing where monthly rent can jump from zero to thousands of dollars depending on how a family’s income is assessed? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, I’m not sure what part of my last answer the Member didn’t understand, but I clearly articulated that we are working as Ministers on the Social Envelope Committee. I have shared this information with committee members and we have continued to have that dialogue. Clearly, we are doing what the Member is directing.
With respect to the specifics, I am happy to take the information that the Member is providing and to bring it into the Social Envelope Committee of Cabinet to continue to have that dialogue. I do acknowledge and agree with the Member that this one clearly sounds like a policy issue. I’m looking forward to getting the details from the Member, and I am looking forward to bringing it into the Social Envelope Committee of Cabinet to have further discussions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Minister didn’t answer the question. I’ll just give him the question again here. Given the sliding scale and relative stability of public housing, why aren’t we going with that while making the public productive choices that we encourage? It’s much more effective to have that than a situation where monthly rent can jump from zero to thousands of dollars through the Income Support Program. That was the question. The Minister didn’t even touch on that. I will grant you that I’m dense and I didn’t understand something, if that helps.
Would the Minister agree that private landlords, such as Northern Properties, would also likely prefer to have the stable contracts that would be provided if the Housing Corporation was renting their units on a long-term basis instead of the unstable income support system?
Mr. Speaker, the Member is asking me for my opinion. I am happy to give it, but at the same time, I work with my colleagues in the other departments and as Minister responsible for the social envelope, I will continue to do that. We will analyze the questions that the Member is asking and we will come back to the Member with a unified response. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks very much to the Minister for that response. The Minister has done some sound work in producing an Anti-Poverty Action Plan. Here is another concrete suggestion that would significantly impact poverty levels in both Yellowknife and the communities where income support is paying for rent.
Would the Minister commit to reporting back on the feasibility of creating more public housing in these communities instead of income support housing? Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, one of the reasons that the Anti-Poverty Strategy is as strong as it is, is because we work together collaboratively with the other partners and nobody made a unilateral decision on what programs and services would look like. I would hate to presuppose a solution when I haven’t had an opportunity to talk to my colleagues about what the Member is suggesting. I am very interested in the details from the Member. I think there might be some merit there, but I’m going to have a conversation with my colleagues on both sides of the House before I come forward with a decision. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
