Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As everyone knows, the Housing Corporation underwent many changes in the past three years. I guess one of the things that started to drive changes was the main ability to access federal government dollars, but also it was time for change. We had been carrying out business in a certain way for a number of years and it was time to start doing business in a different way.
What we are going to attempt to do, or what we will do in the following year, we will restructure the Housing Corporation so that it is set up better to serve the community, at the community level. We have already entered into some agreements with the local housing authorities, to give them more authority in the delivery of the programs. We want to restructure the Housing Corporation so that it basically designs, builds and finances houses; not necessarily all of them the way we are doing them now. We work with the clients and the community groups toward flexibility and innovative approaches to housing all northerners. To provide training advice and support and financial assistance to northerners. To promote individual independence with increased responsibility and accountability. To promote and establish the growth of the private housing markets in the northern economy. That is basically our mission, and guiding principles will be to strengthen the local authority, responsibility as well as accountability; to empower the client through knowledge and support; to develop and manage the human resource team approach to work; quality products at affordable costs.
Long-term corporate goals will be to provide opportunities for more homes; to improve service to our clients; to strengthen our partnerships with the local housing organizations; and, to provide the communities with greater authority and accountability.
But what we have to do is restructure the corporation at the headquarters level so that we can get an evaluation of our programs as they are now. Even with less federal government money, it doesn't mean that we are doing less work at the corporate level. Our workload has increased quite dramatically over the past three years for the simple reason that we have many more programs, we have changed many more things. So we still have to work within a financial budget that you vote here, as well as what we get from the federal government and other sources, and try to do the same thing.
But what we would like to try to do is strengthen our regions. And then, give more authority to the regions and ultimately that authority will go to the community. That is the bottom line. Thank you.