Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during my visit back home, I had the opportunity to talk to a number of residents, and they had some concerns. Mr. Speaker, as more and more housing situations occur, I have been more perplexed on why things happen with the Housing Corporation. Just recently, I was informed the contractors have the first right of refusal to the extra material for housing contracts. This does not seem right, since the clients have to pay some sort of cost for these projects. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation please advise this House if this practice is something in a written policy or something the corporation just implements? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The allocation of the materials that are left over from units is a decision that is based on how we contract, so, if it is a design build and the contractor takes on the project, the contractor has first right to that material because he is charging for that material. If it is a maintenance, then often the local housing organization will hold that material. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for her answer. Mr. Speaker, is this something that is explained to the clients before they sign the necessary contracts, so are they well aware of this process?
I am making the assumption, then, that the Member is speaking about home maintenance repairs. In that case, then often they might not be knowledgeable of it. I would be leery about a change in the policy to allow them to have the extra materials because they, too, get charged for that stuff. Some of our smaller communities, it is very, very expensive to get maintenance done, so if we give a repair program for $10,000 and we spend all the money just getting the contractor into the community and giving them extra materials, then I worry about what work is actually getting done. I am seeing that there are a lot of expenses already just getting contractors to communities, so I am leery of any kind of policy that would put more expense on people in housing.
I thank the Minister for her answer, and I understand her concerns. However, we are talking about people in their own homes, who need these potential materials to help them with other stuff or fixing up later on, renovations. Can the Minister advise this House if this issue was brought up during the survey that was just recently done?
The issue has been brought up, not only in the survey. It has been brought up in a couple of other areas that I have heard but, when I do let people know that if we were to leave the materials there would be a cost incurred by the client, then people have not been as eager to take advantage of it.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for her answer. I guess I am a little concerned, though, that it is not information that is shared with all clients. I know in my riding a number of the clients have asked, looking for a small part, you know, a small portion of material like tiles and that. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister be willing to look at or engage her department in looking at this as an opportunity to discuss this with clients and maybe in the future that they have that option available to them? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is looking at doing a full review of every policy and every program. When the policy comes up onto home repair, we will take the Member's comments into consideration and see if there is some way that we can either communicate better or provide tenants with the option to be able to purchase leftover materials if they so wish.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
