Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS the harmonization strategy fails to meet the needs of seniors and students in the NWT;

AND WHEREAS the strategy penalizes seniors who are forced to take in family members when there are no other accommodations available in communities, by adding the seniors' pension income to the household calculations;

AND WHEREAS a complete lack of rental accommodation available in small communities is not conducive to family members moving out of a seniors' home;

AND WHEREAS the strategy continues to place the responsibility for rental remuneration with the head of the household, in many cases the senior on a fixed income rather than apportioning it among working members of the household;

AND WHEREAS some seniors are on fixed incomes who have secured loans based on their available income who will have difficulty serving their debt due to rent increases;

AND WHEREAS the harmonization strategy will treat student financial assistance loans as income for the purpose of calculating rent assessment in public housing;

AND WHEREAS there are still too many inequities and fundamental unfairness in defining and calculating income for the purposes of income support and rent assessment in public housing;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that the implementation of the harmonization of income support and social housing strategy be discontinued in its entirety;

AND FURTHER that any future initiative to address income support and public housing inequities consider the inherent difficulties encountered by seniors and students in the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.