Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke in this House about my concerns for elders, that we have elders in communities who are held into mortgages from the GNWT which they cannot afford. For these elders who are on fixed income, it's not just only mortgages but it's also public housing units that I am talking about too. For these elders who are on fixed income, once their file is transferred into collections, they are trapped with so little money so little money they won't ever get out of housing debt.
The Financial Administration Act, the manual, provides guidance for consideration when forgiving or writing off debts. The main consideration is that the circumstances justify seeking forgiveness. The information bulletin 64.01, forgiveness and remission, provides further guidance on this. Under the information bulletin, it details that if a debtor is considered indigent, that is acceptable criteria for the government to forgive debt. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, this describes the situation of many of our elders. How is the GNWT assessing and determining when a client may not be in the position to financially pay the debt owed to the government?
Under 62 of the Act, a debt can be forgiven if the board considers that collection of the debt unreasonable or unjust or that it is otherwise in the public interest to forgive the debt or obligations. The GNWT can take steps to forgive debt to GNWT and the housing corp for elders and seniors specifically who are no longer in the workforce to alleviate debt when it has become unjust and unreasonable. I will have questions for the Minister of Finance later today. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Members' statements. Member from Frame Lake.
