Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all heard from the Member for Nunakput the concern with housing and people being evicted and also the amount of arrears that we have compiled over the last number of years.
Mr. Speaker, in previous governments there were two communities that seemed to have had a problem with arrears and all the other LHOs did not have the arrears that we’re seeing today. Yet, Mr. Speaker, some unique efforts were made from different communities, and I’ll use the community of Tsiigehtchic in my riding. They worked with the tenants to work off their arrears by demolishing old Housing Corporation units, which were going to have to be demolished anyhow, and allowed the individuals to work off their arrears in which they have their wage earnings go towards their arrears; the other half they got to keep.
It’s these unique types of arrangements that I think the Minister should consider in light of the situation in Paulatuk and also in other communities that you have arrears where we do have a lot of infrastructure that is basically ready to be demolished. Again, that’s one of the ways that you can assist communities dealing with the arrears.
Mr. Speaker, it’s also important that we ensure that the people we put into our care programs get into homeownership, that we work with them to ensure that they’re able to transition as a Housing Corporation tenant to a homeowner, but not to treat them as if they’re still a tenant in the Housing Corporation unit by using the 25 percent income in which the individuals are discouraged from basically trying to bring in revenues.
I’ll use the situation I have in Fort McPherson where the individual’s wife went and got a job at the school as a teacher’s assistant, and because of the amount of rent and basically the amount that they were supposed to pay on the unit was almost $2,500. If they went to the bank and got a mortgage, they would have paid somewhere in the region of maybe $500 to $1,000 a year on a mortgage. So it’s discouraging for people to try to get into housing and being treated the same way they were as tenants in the Housing Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will be having questions for the Minister of Housing on trying to find solutions to arrear problems and evictions. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
