No.

Thank you. I have Mr. Evaloarjuk. Qujannamiik.

(Translation) Mr. Chairman, thank you. I am not too sure if this is going to be the right topic or issue that I have to ask about. Can I ask this question at this present time with regard to the local housing association in the communities, the authorities or associations? I wanted to find out as to what type of authorities and rights they have. Can I ask this type of question at this present time? Mr. Chairman. (Translation ends)

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Evaloarjuk. After we finish this issue that we are dealing with, the other ones are going to be information items. If you want to proceed with your question, Mr. Evaloarjuk. (Translation ends)

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to ask this question. First of all, with respect to local housing organizations or associations, I think they might have authority or are they just figureheads at this present time? They are usually directly under the housing association from regional communities. I do not think they have too much power when they are dealing with people who are going to be evicted. Are they like a figurehead now or do they have power to support the people who are about to be evicted and do other responsibilities? As well, with respect to private ownership of houses, this is not usually dealt with through the Housing Corporation, but at the same time, there are private houses that are rented privately in the communities. With respect to these private homes or if some company makes a building such as a school, there has to be some kind of an inspection that goes on, to determine if it was built according to building codes.

Going back to private homes, a lot of times, these units are built very high from the ground, and sometimes the elderly own these private homes. They may only have one exit, and if there was a fire there would be a major emergency with only having one exit. If an Inuk contractor was to build this unit with one exit, it seems to me that it would be considered hazardous. Are the housing associations in the community considered figureheads? My second concern is the lack of proper exits in houses that are being built in the communities. I have heard these types of concerns with regard to houses in the communities. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (Translation ends)

Thank you, Mr. Evaloarjuk. Mr. Minister.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, regarding the local housing boards, my response will be to the first question. Concerning the other question regarding emergency exits, I will leave that up to Mr. Murray to respond to. The local housing boards within the communities are elected members. As to the authority and powers that they can exercise, it is always in relation to the desires and the responsibilities that the board wishes to take. They have that discretion. If they feel their powers are fine and well, it would give the impression that the secretary manager has the power and the authority when, in fact, the boards are delegated with certain powers and they, in turn, delegate the administration of those duties and responsibilities to their secretary manager. They are also the deciders on the selection process for who gets the units. The boards make decisions on the selection of applicants as to who gets what unit and who qualifies for HAP and other home ownership programs. If they are advised as to housing needs, the housing board also has the authority to act on those recommendations.

The impression might be, in some communities, that the housing boards are very powerless in relation to concerns and issues about rental assessments, rental increases and rental scales. Whether people complain about the cost of their rent, technically they have to follow the rules of the law whereby they do not really have the authority to adjust rents because it is accordingly applied according to the rules. In areas where there are evictions, the housing boards, whether they are associations or authorities, once they have been given notice of an eviction, there are usually no other appeal processes aside from the housing board's decision. Outside of these issues, they do have power. I will let Mr. Murray respond to the second question regarding one exit unit that the Member is concerned about as possible fire traps. (Translation ends)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If it is our own corporation's rental units, they will have some units that do not have escape systems that are appropriate. I am quite prepared to have the corporation go and assess those houses and ensure if a design of a house does not allow us to put a full door in, to ensure there is a proper escape system in social housing. In terms of private housing, it is either owned by individuals or rented. We do have programs available that allow us to go in and make repairs and that type of thing depending on the extent of the work involved. I do not believe there is a law that says you have to have two doors, although I think there is something in the building code that says you have to have a means of escape, certainly from a second storey situation. I will check that out.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We will work with the safety bureau, which is Public Works and Services, as well as the local housing office and make sure that we address those issues right away. We will work with the community to identify which units we have to address first.

Agreed.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, I would like to thank the Housing Corporation staff, Mr. Murray, and in particular, the Minister, Mr. Arlooktoo, who are in support with the transference of Canada Mortgage and Housing units in my community, which includes the Coop housing units and the Aakuluk Day Care, and the support they have given us to keep the Aakuluk Day Care Building up and running. I would like to thank them for that help.

Recently I wrote to the Minister for the Housing Corporation about some concerns with the lack of social housing and new social housing units. I know we do not have any new money because of the federal cutbacks to build social housing units and the programs that we have come up with, like Plan 2000, which have been successful, still have not addressed the concern of new social housing units. Has the department looked at some way of facilitating new construction of social housing units or as outlined in the earlier letter I wrote to the Minister and the department? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I said earlier, social housing units are one of the areas we are most short of. I thank the Member for the letter he wrote. Our hands are tied, somewhat, with the lack of resources. However, there are a couple of things we have on the go that should help this out a bit. One is, if we could find the capital to replace these older social housing units, the NKR units especially, if we sell them or if they are destroyed by fire, et cetera because we still have operations and maintenance money for that particular house. It is a matter of finding the capital. There are some opportunities there. The other, which is not finalized, is under the P3 proposals that the Assembly will be discussing next week. I am hopeful that we can put in a proposal for everyone to consider in terms of rent supplement units, which are apartment building types that are built by the private sector, but are rented for low-income families by the Housing Corporation, with or without ECE income support help. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the lack of social housing is probably the greatest need is in the Nunavut settlement area. There has been some success with rent supplements in Iqaluit. The White Row is an example, and the Brown Building. It is not because of the availability of the units or better units but because of the lack of anything else available. I would support the initiative being brought forward by Minister Arlooktoo under a P3 proposal, which was what I had asked for a few weeks in a letter. Sometimes we criticize the Housing Corporation for not addressing this area, but indeed, we do not have the money available and that is a concern. Sometimes constructive criticism and solutions like the P3 may be a good area. Not only will it help out the social housing issue, but it would also generate income and jobs.

Following up on this area, the corporation receives additional funding through contributions from Canada Mortgage and Housing for different areas. What types of additional funding do you receive from Canada Mortgage and Housing because we no longer have the low-income housing monies available for new construction. What other types of program monies are being contributed by CMHC to the Housing Corporation? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to ask Mr. Anderson to answer that question.