Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In consultation with my colleague, the Finance Minister, the amounts that were announced in the federal budget yesterday on pages 2 and 5, I believe, are so miniscule that it won't impact any of our own programs. So we are going to continue to retain the strategies outlined, our affordable housing strategy, and that's the best method to use at this moment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, that is disappointing, but I will continue. There was also a reference in the budget to a three-year extension of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's residential rehabilitation assistance program, $128 million a year. Is that the same story: It's not going to mean anything for the North? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That aspect of the question requires more evaluation and assessment as to what it would mean to the NWT housing social programs. I need to take a little more time to study the impacts, but I will certainly get back to the Member as soon as I can.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, a third part of the Budget Address in relation to housing suggests there is going to be a three-year extension to the supporting communities' partnerships, $135 million a year to help communities sustain their efforts to address homelessness. We, in Yellowknife, Mr. Speaker, have a homelessness coalition that has demonstrated it can do things. Will this be a benefit to our continuing efforts to help homelessness, Mr. Speaker?

The honourable Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In terms of real dollars, I cannot comment on that, but I will make a commitment that we will continue to work with the homelessness coalition with our existing funds. We will also try to find new funds under this announcement. Hopefully with further consultation with my federal and provincial colleagues, we will be able to define what the federal budget means to the issue of homelessness. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess this is on the heels of the tremendous cooperation that our Premier has undertaken with the Premiers of the Yukon and Nunavut to engage in a cooperative effort on the health front. Is the Minister for Housing here in the NWT considering a similar campaign with our sister territories to get more of the federal dollars into the North for housing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I can confirm that in our last conference call amongst all the territorial housing Ministers, we wanted to take a unified approach with the federal government to try to access more federal dollars for a number of housing issues. We have tentatively scheduled a meeting for the end of March to further that discussion amongst ourselves to see where we can access those federal dollars for a number of social housing issues. We will continue to pursue that from our own internal discussions with other Members across the country. Thank you.