Mr. Speaker, this is a return to a question asked by Mrs. Groenewegen on May 13, 1996, regarding local housing organizations funding.

Mr. Speaker, on May 13, 1996, Mrs. Groenewegen, Member for Hay River, asked an oral question about LHO funding. There is no direct connection between LHOs running a deficit and the economic condition of a community. The amount of rent people pay depends upon their family's income, therefore if local economic conditions take a downward turn and people's income falls, their rent is adjusted accordingly.

Any decrease in LHO rent revenue is adjusted in the following year. The experience of the corporation in these situations has indicated that these changes are minor with respect to the overall contribution to the community.

The $6 million in rent arrears is cumulative, created over a number of years. Adjustments for these arrears have been made in previous years. While these accounts are removed from the books of the LHOs, we continue to collect these outstanding arrears. Furthermore, with the block funding arrangements with the communities that I recently announced, there are additional incentives to collecting arrears. Thank you.