Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if there were an award for bureaucratic bungling, surely it would go to the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation for their epic fail on the Hay River Reserve. It is an absolute disgrace that six homes have been sitting vacant on the reserve for well over a decade while people are in desperate need of housing. These homes were brand new when they were built in 2002, yet they remain unoccupied to this day. Meanwhile, the K'atl'odeeche First Nation estimates that more than 60 band members are living 25 kilometres away in Hay River because they have other choices. The impacts of homelessness on the reserve are enormous. Families are forced apart; band members living in town lack the support they would have at home making them more susceptible to drugs and alcohol and they risk losing the tax benefits that come with living on the reserve.
Meanwhile, on the reserve families try to stick together in overcrowded living conditions. The vacant homes suffer seasonal wear and tear and the band, which receives its funding on a per capita basis much like the GNWT's Territorial Formula Financing, faces decline in revenues. Imagine vacant homes with people who need them. Seems like a no brainer, yet the GNWT, which has had responsibility for housing on the reserve since 1981 appears incapable of doing so, so while we're handing awards, let's give a Commissioner's award for patience to Chief Roy Fabian and the KFN who have tried over and over again to get the issue resolved.
Here's the problem in a nutshell. To qualify for the Housing Corporation's PATH Program, which provides assistance for territorial home ownership, potential homeowners must have an income that falls below the core need income threshold on the reserve. Those with an income above the CNIT can qualify for partial funding, but they will be unable to get a mortgage from a bank to fund the rest because the house is on reserve land which cannot be sold. Without title to the land, potential homeowners cannot get a mortgage from the bank. In 2012, Chief Roy Fabian pointed out that no one in the community fell within the necessary income brackets to qualify them for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation's Homeownership Program in the previous seven years. So the houses remain vacant. Also in 2012, the band held a forum in an attempt to resolve this issue. The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation was invited but did not attend. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Masi.
---Unanimous consent granted.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Representatives from Indian Affairs and Northern Development Canada who did attend committed to work with the KFN to resolve the problem. They said the problem could be fixed within six months by undertaking the process to designate the lands for leasing which would require ratification by the band council. Mr. Speaker, that was four years ago.
Now that I have spoken about the problems with these vacant units on the Hay River Reserve in my next Member's statement I will turn my attention to possible solutions. In the meantime, because this issue involves not only Housing but also Lands, later today I will have questions for the Premier. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
