Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am pleased to appear before the committee of the whole today to present a 1992-93 Main Estimates for the N.W.T. Housing Corporation.
The mandate of the N.W.T. Housing Corporation is to help the people of the N.W.T. acquire and maintain adequate, suitable and affordable shelter, in accordance with their needs and at a reasonable cost.
All social housing programs delivered by the N.W.T. Housing Corporation are designed to provide housing that meets these basic criteria. In the current climate of fiscal restraint, it is very important that the N.W.T. Housing Corporation deliver its programs in a way that makes the most and best use of its resources, to provide as much housing as possible.
Earlier in this session, I tabled the results of the 1992 Housing Needs Survey. I would like to take a few minutes to talk about the needs survey because it will help explain how the corporation makes decisions about where houses are needed most.
The 1992 Housing Needs Survey is the most comprehensive survey of housing ever undertaken in the Northwest Territories. I am very pleased with the quality of information contained in the study, Mr. Chairman, and I am confident that it provides an objective and accurate description of northern housing requirements.
Before talking about the results of the survey, I would like to acknowledge the tremendous effort made by communities across the N.W.T. to provide good information for the survey.
Members are probably aware that local people were hired to go door-to-door in communities with staff from the corporation to collect information.