Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I am in favour of that approach and that is what the government is doing. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Minister, in his opening remarks, talked about doing more with less. In that spirit, I would like to ask him about the so-called alternate units. I have been fortunate because of the number of people in my riding living on the beach and the support that Members of this House and the Minister have given, which I am grateful for, to try to help out those families. I am fortunate that alternate units have been constructed in Iqaluit. There are two of them. These units attracted great

interest in my riding. I think that many people were impressed that these units were, although smaller and perhaps not as sophisticated as the very expensive units that are ordinarily built by the corporation, a sturdy and effective alternative to the overcrowded conditions that many people are presently living in in my riding. If we want to do more with less and since, to my understanding, alternate units have been built very rarely in the eastern Arctic -- I am not sure why that is -- are these alternate units an approach that could be taken to get more bang for the buck, particularly in the eastern Arctic? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Alternate units are a great unit that is good for certain circumstances. For example, to house elders who would prefer to stay independent and keep their costs down. We also use those units to help out people, for example, the people who were living on the beach in Iqaluit. It was used more in the western Arctic where there is wood. It is a great option and is good to build them in some places for some people. It is not an option for all people. They are small units and are too small for families. It is not just a matter of expanding them because once people see someone with an access unit, they say that guy has a furnace and I should get the same thing. I think we have 33 alternate units in our budget for this year. They are allocated all over the north. The Baffin is getting two; the Kitikmeot is getting two; North Slave is getting five; South Slave, 13; and, western Arctic, 11. This is more used for elders who take care of themselves. That is what they were originally designed for. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Since the alternate unit was designed originally for needs in western Arctic communities with wood, now that it seems these units are being built in regions like Kitikmeot and Baffin, where there isn't wood, will the design be modified so the package is appropriate to the different environment above the treeline? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, we did pull the wood stoves out of those packages and replaced them with oil burning stoves. For Members' information, the alternate units originated in my riding back in the 1980s when Mr. Ballantyne was the Minister of Housing. He was the one who first built these alternate units. They started off 14 by 16 and they have grown from that to what they are today. It does solve some people's needs for housing. But people are still in core need even after they move into this unit. It doesn't completely solve their housing problem. Thank you.

Yes.

Agreed.

---Agreed

Line By Line

Directorate

Agreed.

---Agreed

Policy And Planning

Agreed.

---Agreed

Community Development

Agreed.

---Agreed

Human Resources

How many PYs does the NWT Housing Corporation have this year, and how much did they have last year and the year before?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have 156.