Agreed.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to present, to the Legislative Assembly, the 1998-99 main estimates for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

We have requested a total contribution of $98.7 million, $43.5 million for capital programs and $55.2 million for operations and maintenance. Both figures are slight increases over last year's capital funds of $43.2 million and operations and maintenance funds of $55.1 million. Over $200 million will be spent on housing in the north this year when we include Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation contributions.

With the money included in these estimates, approximately 700 projects will be delivered under the Plan 2000 initiative. Mr. Chairman, this government is committed to promoting and supporting northern manufactured goods. The contract conditions of the Housing Corporation ensure that northern labour, goods, services and contractors are utilized, creating jobs and economic activity in the communities.

As the Honourable John Todd announced in his budget speech, an additional $40 to $50 million will be forthcoming from the government over the next two years for the Accelerated Home Ownership Program. It is expected to provide home ownership to 1,000 additional families in the next two years.

There are a number of benefits under this initiative:

- The Housing Corporation will serve more clients under the Expanded Down Payment Assistance and Independent Housing Programs. These programs have been very popular, with the number of applications significantly exceeding what the Housing Corporation can provide and;

- Even more low income families in the north will have the opportunity to move into social housing units made available by higher income tenants who become homeowners. Also, any GNWT staff housing units made available, because the occupants choose to become homeowners, will be transferred to social housing, thus increasing the social housing stock.

- Mr. Chairman, as I said in the House, the 1996 housing need's survey showed that there was a core housing need of over 4,300 households. Many of these are aboriginal families. The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development did not make any commitments to help solve the housing problems in the north in their response to the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, denying the north new funding that aboriginal people in southern Canada will receive for housing. The GNWT decided we cannot wait for the federal government to provide assistance to deal with our growing housing problem. Therefore, the GNWT has stepped in to provide innovative solutions through this initiative.

As I stated previously in this House, I am pleased the corporation has developed a western Arctic affirmative action plan. This $300,000 initiative will create four affirmative action training positions in the western Arctic. The program will be aimed at developing managerial skills in potential affirmative action employees, who can then seek employment in the new government of the Western Territory. The program also promotes increased training amongst existing affirmative action staff in the corporation. Mr. Chairman, those are my opening remarks, I will be pleased to answer any questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee was generally satisfied with the 1998-99 main estimates as presented by the corporation. Except for revisions due to additional programs being taken on from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the numbers matched those already reviewed by the committee during the consideration of the business plans and five-year capital plan.

The committee made note of the following issues during its review of the 1998-99 main estimates of the NWT Housing Corporation:

The committee believes this is a worthwhile program and applauds the corporation for EDAP's development. As with any new program, there are always glitches that need to be addressed after the first year. The committee was pleased to be informed by the president of the Housing Corporation that there will be a Housing Corporation senior manager's meeting in December to examine the program and make the necessary adjustments. The banks are a major component in assuring the success or failure of the EDAP Program. The corporation is encouraged to maintain a close working relationship with the banks and keep them apprised of any changes to the program.

The committee looks forward to being informed as to the results of the senior managers' meeting on the Expanded Downpayment Assistance Program and reviewing the recommendations made as a result of this meeting.

The committee would appreciate being kept informed as the progress on the agreement being negotiated for provision of property management services by the corporation for Public Works Canada. When finalized, the committee would like to review the terms and conditions of the agreement.

The committee has noted the corporation's decision to delay implementation of the third stage of rent increases for social housing, pending a review. The committee would like to be involved in the final decision-making process.

The committee was concerned that the Housing Corporation might not be factoring the cost of production of traditional arts and crafts when determining the rent scale for a craft producer. The committee understands that it is a difficult task to monitor the amount of money made in traditional pursuits, however it does seem unfair that those who are honest in reporting their income, pay higher rent than those that do not report their true income.

The committee was pleased to learn that the corporation is developing a plan to deal with mortgage insurance. Committee members are aware of instances where the untimely death of the principal wage earner has resulted in hardship to a family accessing one of the corporation's home ownership programs. The corporation is to be commended for their compassion in dealing with the families and the solutions they have worked out. The committee is pleased that the corporation realizes that there must be an affordable mortgage insurance plan to ensure the economic survival of a family after the death of a principal wage earner.

The committee was pleased to learn that the Minister has had several positive meetings with the Honourable Jane Stewart, Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, and that he feels the Minister is starting to realize that many of the health and social problems that exist in the Northwest Territories are due to the shortage of adequate and affordable homes for our people. The committee strongly encourages the Minister to pursue further his efforts to obtain the necessary funding to deal with the critical housing needs in the north.

The committee sought clarification on the criteria for determining which communities have or will receive new refrigerators over the two years of the program. A preliminary review by the Members of the committee indicates discrepancies in the numbers. The Minister indicated the refrigerators in social housing units in the NWT were all purchased in the mid 1980s and those fridge replacements in the east (Nunavut) would be complete at the end of the 1998-99 fiscal year. With only six communities in the western NWT scheduled to receive refrigerator replacements before division, it is apparent to the committee Members that this will become a division issue.

The committee is pleased with the approach the corporation has implemented to phase out the Rural Remote Housing Program. The committee believes that if the corporation can rationalize all of the programs that it administers and make these programs fair and equitable, it would go a long way to restoring harmony in some communities. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to call the committee back to order. We are dealing with NWT Housing Corporation and the Minister of the Housing Corporation has made his opening remark. It was an opening remark from the Social Program Committee, which had reviewed this matter. Now we are in the process of general comments. Before we get into general comments, I would like to ask the Minister if he wishes to bring in the witnesses.

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Do we agree?

Agreed.

Proceed, Mr. Minister. For the record, Mr. Minister, would you please introduce the witnesses to the committee?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With me on my left is Mr. Dave Murray, the president of the Housing Corporation and Mr. Jeff Anderson, the corporate comptroller of the Housing Corporation.

Thank you. Welcome to the committee Mr. Anderson and Mr. Murray. The floor is now open for general comments. Detail. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you. At this time, I would advise the Minister and the witnesses to keep notes. At the end of each and every Member who has spoken or made a general comment, we would like you to respond at the end, after each Member has spoken. Thank you. General comments? If not, I will ask the Minister if he would like to reply to Mr. Miltenberger before we get into detail. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to thank all Members for the many meetings and letters they have given to me over the past year. The issue of housing is one that seems to be of common concern and high priority for the Assembly in general. The initiatives we have been able to move forward on have been with the cooperation and the assistance of all Members and we really appreciate that.

On the issue of mortgage insurance, we have issued a short response on mortgage insurance to the Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Programs. There is not a lot of detail in there, however I would like to ask Mr. Murray to make some comments on mortgage insurance in general, briefly. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Murray.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The issue of mortgage insurance relates to protection for families in case of the death of one of the major wage earners in the family. Where there is a bank mortgage in place, we encourage all clients to buy the mortgage insurance offered by the banks or through a private insurance company. We have to take a serious look at, within our own programs, some of our access clients because our access clients do make payments, but they make those payments to us. We have to decide, as a corporation, how to best assist those families in the case of a death.

We have looked at the issue of buying insurance on behalf of those clients. The problem is, it would probably cost more to do that and charge that back to the client because of a small number of clients, overall against the cost of insurance. We are looking at that option, but we are also looking at whether it may be better to do this by policy through self-insurance. We will go to Cabinet and in the case of the death of a major wage earner, our access program allows us to write that mortgage down to as low as $32 a month, under our own program guidelines. This may be the way to handle it as well. Our plan is to have something ready for the Minister and perhaps the Cabinet by the end of March.

Thank you. NWT Housing Corporation, operations and maintenance, total operations and maintenance, $55.240 million. Agreed?

Agreed.

Thank you. On page 8-7, NWT Housing Corporation, contributions, headquarters, total region, $3.856 million. Agreed?

Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I note in the Minister's comments where they are spending an additional $40 to $50 million in the next two years. It is not clear here whether that is divided, the $40 to $50 million is divided over two years or it is each year? Could the Minister clarify that, please?