Mr. Speaker, I have a return to an oral question, asked by Mr. Koe to the Honourable Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, Don Morin, with regard to the annual meetings of the NWT Housing Corporation.
Members passed a number of motions in this House in December, recommending that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation implement its consultation framework in 1993-94. An important element of the consultation framework is annual community and district meetings.
Community meetings will be open to the public and will provide an opportunity for people to discuss local concerns and receive information. Representatives from community housing organizations will meet once a year for a district meeting to discuss regional concerns and provide input to new corporation policies and programs. If a community does not have a housing association or authority, representatives from the community government, band council, Metis local and development corporation will be invited to attend the district meeting.
The cost of the district meeting will depend on how many people attend from each community. If there is one representative, the meeting will cost about $70,000 per year for all six districts. Two representatives from each community would cost about $140,000. Mr. Morin states that he will be seeking the advice from the Advisory Committee on Social Housing with respect the appropriate number of representatives which should be invited from each community. Members of this House will be advised of the community representatives that have been invited from their constituencies. The Housing Corporation does not require any extra funding to implement the district meetings.
The district meetings will be organized to be as cost-effective as possible. These meetings have the potential to generate valuable feedback and good ideas. Recommendations made at district meetings will be forwarded to the Advisory Committee on Social Housing for their review. Mr. Morin will work with the advisory committee to determine the best way to respond to these concerns. The whole point of this exercise is to ensure that the corporation continues to deliver more effective programs in the future. This will surely be money well spent. Thank you.