Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The current way the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation manages their tenants’ arrears is obviously not working. I think these procedures have been unrealistic for far too long.
My colleagues and I representing small and remote communities are sitting in this Assembly year after year telling the honourable Minister that the government’s current system is broken.
The Housing Corporation is not getting what they need; the tenants in small communities are not getting what they need; and meanwhile, the less privileged residents are suffering. Our single mothers with no employment, our elders with no support, and people who are finding it tougher and tougher just to get by are all affected, and that’s a shame, Mr. Speaker.
We need to get realistic about the problem. We know the economic and social situation of these affected communities, so we need to develop a plan to address them rather than just evicting them. Evicting our residents who have no way to pay, no short-term opportunities, is just changing one problem to another. If this government continues to deal with the arrears in the way they have been in the past, the results are going to get more serious. We already have serious overcrowding conditions resulting in health and social problems. Some of our residents live in shacks because they have nowhere to go, and that’s a shame from this government, Mr. Speaker.
The respective Minister of this government needs to help these people to get back some dignity in their lives. When someone loses a job and then they lose their home, they lose hope and this results in serious social problems. We can no longer have this situation left to the market conditions to fix itself. This is unrealistic. In the wintertime the temperatures in Nunakput communities can easily range from minus 30 to minus 50, and that’s not including the wind. For the families being evicted, the conditions are inhumane and wrong.
Every community in Nunakput is having major problems in the way housing is being evaluated and administered. I wonder if this government and the Housing Corporation recognize the impact that they’re making in the region. The small and remote communities have nowhere to go. There are no shelters like here in Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker, the service programs.
Mr. Speaker, I wonder if these evictions are being directed by the central office to local housing authorities that are forced to do their dirty work on behalf of the NWT Housing Corporation. Just saying that, the Housing Corporation’s problem with the rules followed is wrong. People deserve more. They deserve our respect and compassion.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
As I stated previously, overcrowding in housing units is a symptom of a much larger systemic problem and causes many problems in the communities. Mr. Speaker, this government must see firsthand how their policies in the NWT Housing Corporation headquarters are affecting small and remote communities. They must get in touch with the concerns of the communities. Until that happens, Mr. Speaker, the policies will never truly recognize the housing challenges in the small and remote communities.
Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the honourable Minister at the appropriate time. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
