Thank you, Madam Speaker. I wish I had a light humorous statement to make today but I must again raise questions about the fairness of the allocation of housing units to certain DPW employees in Iqaluit. I have a little bit more information that I wish to share with the House.
I refer to houses 343 and 616. It appears, Madam Speaker, and I have not got all the facts at hand, but even though there is a present backlog of work orders in trade shops, for work on staff houses in Iqaluit -- for six months or longer -- it seems priority has been given to significant repairs, not routine maintenance, on these two units. There is a great deal of interest on the part of many employees in Iqaluit in purchasing the few single detached units available in town since the rents were substantially raised with the implementation of the new staff housing policy.
These units, every one of them, have already been inspected and assessed on an as is basis. My constituents interested in purchasing have been told that Public Works' current policy is that no work is to be done on any unit that might be sold. Yet, I'm told, Madam Speaker, that records of work orders will show quite a lot of work having been done on these two units, coinciding with their occupancy by senior DPW employees.
Madam Speaker, I am being flooded with complaints about what my constituents are calling an apparent misuse of authority and violation of current government policy by those in authority. I believe the days are over when senior government employees can manipulate the system to occupy a choice unit, get houses fixed up at public expense and then buy these units at bargain prices.
I'm not entirely sure of the extent of work undertaken on these houses. I am sure that information will be provided to me. But, many of my constituents are complaining and they are angry. I'm confident, from talking to the Minister of DPW, if there is evidence of abuse of privilege, it will be dealt with decisively. Thank you.
---Applause