Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, before I start my Members' statement, I would like to make an honourable mention at this financially difficult time. The honourable Premier, Donnie Morin, was kind enough to give me this nice, beautiful tie.

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Mr. Speaker, my concern today is about housing. Last year, a new social housing rent scale was put in place. This followed extensive consultation with communities and representatives in each district at the Housing Corporation in the Northwest Territories. When the new rent scale was put into place by the previous Assembly, the Minister who was then in charge of the Housing Corporation, the honourable Don Morin, stated that ongoing consultation would happen in every community and every region in the following year.

Many of my constituents are hurting because of this new rent scale. I am not sure it has worked out in the way it was intended to. In all cases, Mr. Speaker, I strongly believe that now is the time the new rent scale has to be put into place. We need to consult with the communities and find out how it has been working.

We need to consider whether the new rent scale should be modified where it has caused undue hardships. Communities should also have the opportunity to consider other issues such as housing design; the effectiveness of new home ownership programs should both be done in the community and at the regional level as it was done when the rent scale was being put in place.

Later today, Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the Minister of Housing if he intends to carry on with the commitments for the consultations promised by the previous Housing Minister, Mr. Morin. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.