(Translation) Mr. Chairman, thank you. Just recently we asked questions with regard to the rental scale changes to Ministers' statements and oral questions within the past couple of weeks. Quite some time ago, we had a difficult time with regard to housing, like the $40 million cut by the federal government for social housing. I know that there is a budget restraint all over, but with regard to the rental changes effective April 1st, it seems like the federal government has pushed us into this difficulty. They have cut a total of $6 million for social housing.
The federal government has given us a lot of problems with regard to rent and social housing. I know that the Housing Corporation has worked on this for quite a long time. It is not just in the Northwest Territories that we are having difficulty, it is all over Canada.
Mr. Chairman, we have to deal with the older people with regard to housing, because they have had a difficult time. Even though it states that the elders will not be paying rent any more, I know that there is a lot of people that live in one house because of the lack of housing in the north, in the communities.
We have different cultures even though we all live in the north. So we would like to be treated that way, differently, in every community. That is why we often mention the rental scale changes that were put into effect on April 1st. I know the price to rent a house is getting more expensive all the time. I know that some of the people who are making good wages will have to pay a lot of money. That is why we voiced our concerns before the rental changes were put into effect.
We were called, by telephone, by our constituents to be concerned about the rental changes that have recently been put into effect. Some people have understood what they have to do, but I know that some of them are not quite clear yet. They have to always report their income, which scares some of the people in the communities because the more money they make, the more they pay.
I know that the people who are middle class are probably in a better position. There have been some people who have recently been kicked out of their housing because they couldn't keep up the payment. I wouldn't want to see this being done to too many people in the north because they cannot afford to pay their rent or they are in arrears. Because we are in different climates in every community, it can get very cold and we don't have any alternate housing available in the communities.
When we were younger it was different because we could make alternate housing. The young people are not in the same category as we were back then, when we were younger, because they don't know their culture as much as we do. And their lifestyle is different from the time when we were younger. For that reason, it is going to become very hard for some people to afford their rent.
We would very much like to be able to have our own houses but, Mr. Chairman, we are not all fortunate and we cannot all afford to have our own housing. It would be nice to be able to provide adequate housing for everybody in the north. And it would not be very good if a lot of people are being kicked out of their houses because they cannot afford their rent, or they cannot afford their own home. I know that we would like all the people who we represent to start having their own houses but only some can afford that.
Maybe it would be good if more people could be given their own house or could afford their own house. I know that there is going to be more and more people that cannot afford their own houses. Last week I mentioned a lot about the new rental scale, because I had some concerns about my constituents. I know there should be a better system with regard to providing housing for the people in the north. I am not really sure exactly how we can best deal with this situation, about people who have to be kicked out of their housing. Mr. Chairman, I wanted to make these comments today while we are discussing the Housing Corporation. I will stop for now. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.