Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the vicious cycle a person must go through to remain in public housing, or their rental home, is often enough to make anyone’s head spin. Often I hear about housing clients in arrears that receive no help. Their income support is insufficient, and they are subjected to overly rigorous and often invasive data collection. Income assistance clients living in our governmentfunded housing still cannot afford to live, or ever get ahead, as any income, help, or giftinkind, lowers the amount of money they will receive down the line, and then they cannot afford to pay for food or other items. Mr. Speaker, you can’t even win a small Bingo jackpot on income assistance without that being deducted from your next cheque; Something that hardly seems worth the administrative burden it creates.
I have to wonder, has the cost benefit analysis been done to see if the amount of money saved is more than the administrative cost it takes to go after an elder in Deline for attending a bingo. As the Premier said yesterday, people are in situations where choices must be made between food and paying their bills.
Basing current rent on the previous year's income makes no sense, and rent based on affordability and current living situation is what a person needs. If clients have arrears, they have difficulty getting caught up. The couch surfing homeless are generally those on the GNWT housing waitlist. If they stay with family who resides in a public housing unit, that family member is then penalized for the additional income of the couch surfer and the rent is increased. Why? They are covering a gap in service as this government does not have enough housing for all residents that need it. This causes overcrowding and unhealthy living arrangements, a burden to the family member that is only trying to help and yet we find it acceptable to charge them more for this.
Cabinet’s response is always people can appeal decisions made by the departments. However, many are unaware of their rights to ask for a reassessment or an appeal. Plus, this all takes time, mental energy, and resources these already marginalized clients cannot easily access or afford. They are afraid of engaging with government offices as they ask for help and are made to feel like a burden and not worthy of government time or money. Often people describe their interactions with the GNWT as being made to feel like, quote, "a criminal or a beggar", and I have to ask how does that fit into our 19th Assembly priority of truth and reconciliation? The answer, Mr. Speaker, is that it doesn’t. And nothing that is being said by this Assembly is more than lip service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Members' statements. Member for Tu NedheWiilideh.
