Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the Dene K'onia Young Offenders' Facility remains in operation today. It is scheduled to be re-designated from a closed custody facility to an open custody facility in the next year. We still will retain a complement of staff and programs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister said it will be re-designated within the next year and they will retain a complement of staff. When exactly is the centre supposed to start taking in inmates or clients under the open custody designation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Justice, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As of today, it still remains a triple secure facility and we still accept open custody clients. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn't quite get that answer, Mr. Speaker. When I brought this up in the House before, both with this Minister and the Minister of Justice in the past, there was a commitment made that through the transfer and re-designation of Dene K'onia to open custody, that there would be no loss of jobs. I am wondering if the Minister could state that the same number of jobs are still there and that those jobs are protected and there is no intention of this department to do away with jobs at Dene K'onia. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Justice, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have committed to retain the complement of 15 staff members from the Dene K'onia Young Offenders Facility and we will continue to do so for the life of the facility. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am aware that there is some training going on at the centre right now in preparing for open custody. One of the fears that we had with open custody was that there are examples of that same type of facility being operated under a contract basis. Is the Minister aware of any proposals out there right now to do the service that the open custody facility would do on a contract basis? And if there was, would he be in support of that or is he committed to maintaining Dene K'onia as an open custody facility? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Justice, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are committed to retaining the same number of staff members and also retaining the same way of operating based on previous consultations with the community. Certainly our ambition is to make sure you retain the same number of jobs and the same level of service in that community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 6, oral questions. Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. I think it's clear to us all, Mr. Speaker, there is an eye toward trying to rehabilitate this harmonization program and save it before the wheels absolutely fall off. I think they've gone some measure to dealing with some concerns of Members as far as freezing rents for seniors. It's a good start. I would like to know from the Minister if they also considered phasing in rent increases to all families. There are a number of families who will get over $200 a month increases, not a lot, but I am asking the Minister if there was consideration given to phasing in those rents. Thank you.

Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our first attempt was to try to reconcile the differences between the various issues that were raised. We thought perhaps they would be more sensitive to the seniors' needs. We also looked at the other 53 families who would be adversely affected. We have, in the course of time, developed and modified a number of housing programs to address that. We will continue to work on an individual basis. I committed to that last week. We are doing that, as we speak. So there are a number of other options we are looking at very closely to address those who will be adversely affected. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Minister's department is working as hard as they can with some of these folks who are going to get the big increases, trying to encourage them to move into home ownership programs like the EDAP program. I am wondering if the Minister is aware though that some of the people getting these big increases won't meet the minimum threshold requirement for a program like EDAP and will be sort of in limbo? I wonder if the Minister is aware that there is this gap? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We certainly have addressed that on an interim basis. We have looked at the core need income threshold levels. We've tried to modify a number of our homeownership programs to assist those, as I stated earlier, who are adversely affected with the proposed rent increases. We need to evaluate their financial position and we will provide the counselling to help guide them through to that finality. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This gets a bit more specific. Maybe the Minister can provide me with this information about potential phased-in increase options. I know they looked at grandfathering for seniors. I am wondering if they did a study to determine what it would have cost to phase-in all families equally, everybody in public housing, with this $50, $200 and then $400 max option. Did they look at all families and could he give me some information on what that would have cost? Thank you.

Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.