Debates of August 17, 2007 (day 12)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. It goes back to the transfer from the Housing Corporation to ECE for tenant assessments and the paying of rent. I would like to ask the Minister, this has been something that has been going on for a while now. Has the department done an assessment of the whole transfer and is it working? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Return To Question 148-15(6): Assessment Of Social Housing Subsidy Program

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have said several times in this House, the assessment of how the program is working is done on a continual basis. The senior management get together regularly. The deputies from the departments get together regularly. The Minister of the Housing Corporation and I discuss issues as they arise, as well. So we are satisfied that we have found ways to deal with all of the issues that have come up, up to this point. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Supplementary To Question 148-15(6): Assessment Of Social Housing Subsidy Program

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the list of people that the Minister mentioned that he spoke to, the deputy minister, all senior administration, but they are not the people that are being assessed. Have they spoken to tenants and are tenants telling them that this is a program that is working? These are the people that this program is designed for. We are speaking to everybody else but the tenants. Have they spoken to the tenants and got their opinion on the way things are working? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 148-15(6): Assessment Of Social Housing Subsidy Program

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In fact, we do deal with local housing authorities and LHOs. We bring people together who are working on the front line to tell us the problems they are running into. The numbers of complaints that we are hearing have diminished tremendously. We are not getting very many complaints at all. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Supplementary To Question 148-15(6): Assessment Of Social Housing Subsidy Program

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I sometimes wonder if there are 84,000 people in the Northwest Territories: 42,000 that they speak to and the other 42,000 that we speak to, because we are getting complaints from tenants that this is not working. The Minister says that he is getting no complaints. We are getting complaints, Mr. Speaker, that this is not working. Is there an option of transferring the responsibility back to the NWT Housing Corporation who was doing a good job of looking after it in the first place? Is that an option? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 148-15(6): Assessment Of Social Housing Subsidy Program

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the reason we did this is, as Members in this House know, we have $120 million that goes out every year as direct subsidies to people in the Northwest Territories. That is before we add the $6 million that we are putting into the Income Support Program next year. We were in a situation where we had 17 programs run by seven different departments that did not mesh. We had situations where a person would earn, or a family would earn, an extra dollar and have $200 clawed back by either the housing authority or by income support. We need to find a way to make sure that our programs work better together. We have families living side by side who are getting different levels of support right now because one family went to the housing authority and one family went to income support. It is not reasonable that governments provide two levels of support to two families in exactly the same circumstances. But that is what has happened because we haven’t had programs that are coordinated and designed to help people effectively, efficiently and fairly. We need to make sure that we are properly targeting the people who need government assistance the most and that we are doing it in the right way. We think that the best way to do that is to ensure that we have a comprehensive and cohesive program. You can’t do that if all of our subsidy programs are divided up among different departments. So we think that we have taken the best approach here. We know that we have resolved issues. We think that putting the subsidies together into one department will eventually mean that we will have a much better articulated program and one that is more supportive for all Members in this House. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Final supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Supplementary To Question 148-15(6): Assessment Of Social Housing Subsidy Program

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is interesting we hear what everybody else has to say and I still go back to the fact that we are hearing from tenants that this is a program that is not working. The assessments are coming in late, termination notices are given out more than they ever have been before. I know it because I have people coming to me who have been terminated and because of policy, there is nothing we can do about it. We can go and ask the questions, but it is just not working out for them. We are hearing from people who are getting termination notices. We talk about one-stop shopping. It is not about one-stop shopping. Is contracting out to the local housing authorities the assessment forms an option? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 148-15(6): Assessment Of Social Housing Subsidy Program

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No. Before the transfer of the subsidy, I can’t tell you how many times, in my 16 years in this House, I have heard Members stand up opposite and go after the Minister of Housing for problems with assessments. So it isn’t something that is new. There are always going to be people who are having difficulty with how their assessments are done or how they are dealt with, but what we have now is a process where we are moving towards more consistency in how our program is being applied across the Northwest Territories. After the transfer, we discovered all sorts of different inconsistencies. Now we are making sure that people across the Territories are receiving fair and equitable supports. Yes, it has meant a change. Yes, people resist change, but in the long run, this is going to be a better program because of this change. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.