Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm just excited because we've got five new units and the RCMP have got to get moved out, potentially. Today, I brought up aging housing units in my riding of Nunakput. I'm asking today: can the Minister tell me how fast we are accessing renovation funds per community in my riding to start planning renovations for this coming summer? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last year, when we had started the restrictions and we started to act on COVID-19, the Housing Corporation had acquired $5 million and had distributed that amongst the LHOs in the smaller communities for housing repair. Right now, for your region, we have a number of units that are under repair and scheduled to be completed for this year. Just for the Member, we do have new construction built for Ulukhaktok, where we have two public housing units that are coming up, which doesn't seem like very much, but then it's the retrofits that we do have throughout the territory, where we have to bring these public housing units up to standard. I'm looking at hopefully completing the public housing repair this year of 2021. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Are there any plans to replace the old Weber units that were built in 1970 in communities? Like, take them off the books and be able to bring in new builds in regard to the community, for each community in my riding, and be able to bring in new units for the people, and maybe even more complexes?
I'm quite eager to start working with home ownership throughout the Northwest Territories. The Weber units, we are working on a strategy within the Housing Corporation to have these units up for sale, to transfer them over to the public housing tenants who are acquiring the single-family dwelling units. We do have a rollout of units that will be coming together within the next few months. I don't have that list in front of me, as it hasn't been finalized. Just to try to speak about the Member's comments about his riding and looking at the condition of the homes in those communities, as well, these are shoreline communities, so I hear the Member on the damages that are quite significant in that riding. We are working as a Housing Corporation, and we are also working with the Indigenous groups in that riding, as well, to access the co-investment fund. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks, we will have an announcement to make.
I want to thank the Minister for that. This is a question in regards to getting ready for the summer retrofits and renovation season. I'm just wondering if we could get the third party to come into the communities to go and see every house in, say, Sach's Harbour and Paulatuk and Ulukhaktok to see, under the housing renovation, what the house needs and to see what is accessible to do for this coming year and be able to get it on the barge before winter season comes again. Is that possible, and using local hire to do that?
Condition rating is a priority, as well. We are looking at the public housing units. I know that we are reaching the 40-year mark for them, and yes, I will have my staff go into the Member's riding and to take a look at the conditions of the units that are there because I'm quite interested to see the amount of retrofits we need to get done for that riding and making sure that we do get material into that riding on time.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that again. I would like to see if the Minister is able to commit to a tour this summer and not only that, but making sure that local people are hired to do the jobs and not bring in outsiders because outsiders, that's the problem that we've been having in my riding. I need local hire and local contractors to get those contracts so we're providing jobs for the community and it's done locally on a timely and cost-effective manner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am a supporter, as well, for local hire, but some of the retrofits that are required, we do need the expertise to be flown in and to pass the inspection of the work that is potentially going to be done. I don't know the level of work that needs to be done, but I will keep the Member informed as we go forward and looking at possibilities of working with those specific communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
