Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the most important accomplishments in one's life is that of being able to provide a home for our families. Mr. Speaker, our home is where we nurture our children, where we provide guidance to them as they grow, a place that provides protection, a place that helps strengthen family values and a place that gives hope.
Mr. Speaker, I have received numerous concerns from a number of my constituents in Fort Providence who have either been evicted, are about to be evicted or notified that they will be evicted from public housing. The reasons for eviction vary from rental arrears to problem tenants.
Mr. Speaker, what is happening to these people is unacceptable and is bordering on cultural discrimination. Mr. Speaker, all these people being evicted are Dene or Metis. These people make Fort Providence their home. This is where their families have lived for many generations. They are not about to move outside the community to find alternate housing. They are being forced to become a homeless statistic.
Mr. Speaker, I have to raise the question, what option do these people have upon being evicted from public housing? Is it to move in with family members and add to the overcrowding that already exists, or is it to put them out on the streets in the dead of winter?
Mr. Speaker, I find this matter to be very serious as it affects not only the life of the tenant who has signed an agreement with the NWT Housing Corporation, but each family member in the whole community. I find this even more appalling when part of the NWT Housing Corporation's mandate is to assist communities to assume the role of providing housing to residents of the Northwest Territories and not that of throwing people out on the street.
Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, it is also the responsibility of the NWT Housing Corporation to ensure aboriginal satisfaction that traditional knowledge and values are respected in the corporation decision making process. This, Mr. Speaker, does not appear to be a real consideration for the NWT Housing Corporation, when we know that many of these aboriginal people who are being evicted for non-payment of rent take the position that treaties with Canada give them the right to a home, that being a small benefit for the lands and resources that have been wrongly expropriated by Canada. Now, Mr. Speaker, we as a government want to expropriate their homes as well.