Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have spoken in this House several times about my concern for elders and the hardship they face to pay for their house. I am concerned, Mr. Speaker, that the elders in my region have signed into agreements with housing that, in many cases, they did not fully understand. People signed into agreements with housing as this was the only option they had to maintain their home. What is happening in my region is that as people age and are no longer in the workforce, they struggle to make their housing payments on the limited income they have.
Mr. Speaker, I value the work of Housing NWT to assess people to enter a mortgage so they can own their own homes, but there needs to be more care taken to ensure that people are not being tied into mortgages they cannot afford. Mr. Speaker, I know elders in my region whose wages are being garnished through the Court to pay for housing arrears, housing arrears that have been sent to collections.
My concern, Mr. Speaker, is that GNWT could be doing more to support our elders. For elders who cannot make housing payments or fallen behind on payments, who are on fixed income and can demonstrate financial hardship, there should be some relief, whether it's a pause on collections, a forgiveness of all or some of the debt, the GNWT has the tools to ensure our elders live in dignity. We want our elders to remain in their communities surrounded by their loved ones and not living in poverty. The Housing NWT collection policy state "arrears should be forgiven where collection is not possible", end quote.
The Minister of housing has stated that work is underway with the Department of Finance to address mortgage or rental debt on a casebycase basis. Mr. Speaker, we need to see the GNWT come up with creative solutions. I will have questions for the Minister of housing. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Members' statements. Returns to oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre. For three; is that what you're asking for?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I'd like to go back to item No. 3 on the agenda. I guess in this case, I seek unanimous consent for doing this. Thank you.
Member from Yellowknife Centre has asked to go back to number 3, seeking unanimous consent.
Member, seeing no nays, you may go back to your Member's statement.
