Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister of the NWT Housing Corporation. What support exists for homeowners in remote communities who need to replace oil tanks and wood pilings underneath their homes?
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Those that find they need to replace their fuel tanks or pilings would be able to, if they qualify, access money through CARE, the home repair program.
What’s being done to educate the public about proper maintenance of oil tanks and wood pilings?
It’s obvious that there has been some concern with the fuel tanks and, more specifically, the wood pilings. As far as public education, I would have to follow up and see what’s out there. This has been a longstanding issue, the pilings in particular, so folks out there are well aware of some of the challenges they face. The fuel tank issue is just a new one that’s been out for a bit here. There’s still a process that has to go on where we need to educate the public and make them aware of some of the challenges they face with the fuel tanks.
Does the NWT Housing Corporation plan to address the pilings that are beginning to decay for private homeownership? I think the cost for one to repair is about $1,500. I mean, some people are barely eligible to stay in those units that are being given under the programs that they fall under through the Housing Corporation. Can the Minister elaborate a little bit more on the process and what the department can do to help enhance the program to get these pilings done for the private homeownership?
Obviously, being a private homeowner, they would be responsible for the remediation of their piles. However, the Housing Corporation does offer the CARE program where, if they’re eligible, they would qualify for home repairs and get the piling work done. As far as a program designed specifically for that, it doesn’t exist right now, but clients will have an opportunity through one of the home repair programs to get the work done to their units.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister consider looking at ways to increase support to homeowners in remote communities and the need to replace oil tanks and wood pilings and to enhance the programs under the NWT housing CARE program?
We’re always looking at ways that we can improve the delivery of our program. We have allocated, in the past number of years, a large amount of resources to the communities. I can stand here and quote some numbers from the Member’s constituency where one particular community received $4.7 million since 2007. Another community got about the same amount. We try and distribute the resources that we have equally. We’ve been fortunate in the last number of years with the federal investment. We’ve been able to allocate more resources. With that money being sunsetted we’re back to our historical levels, but we still recognize the importance of helping those in the communities that need assistance. I think last year we allocated about $9 million to help homeowners. This year the number is a little lower, what we’re proposing. Still we see it as our contribution to helping those that want to fix up their units. Again I will remind the Member that for those who qualify for some of the programs, there’s always the assistance in dealing with some of the issues surrounding their units.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Bonus question. For myself, would the Minister, for the private homeowners, like, we have some elders that are retired and the family is still working. They still say that under the last fiscal year, would the Minister reconsider looking at the pre-qualifications and opening that up with the Housing Corporation to be able to allocate more monies to the individuals in the communities?
We try to distribute our resources equally and fairly across the Northwest Territories. We have some of our smaller communities that continue to get a good portion of the money. We’re always looking at ways to allocate resources to a lot of the communities that are in need. We find we have more applications in one community than another. We’re always looking at ways we can assist our homeowners to improve the condition of their units.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
