Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently, the NWT Housing Corporation has put some of their units for sale in the NWT; in particular, older units or units considered to be in need of major repair.

Mr. Speaker, there are, as I see it, two types of buyers for these units. Firstly, there are the elderly, who have lived in these units for 20 years or more. Once they purchase these units, they become responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the units. I believe, Mr. Speaker, that, given the fact that these elders live on a fixed pension income, their purchasing the unit will create hardship for them when they have to pay for ongoing maintenance costs. Now I realize, Mr. Speaker, that the Housing Corporation has provided some relief to elderly homeowners through their newly announced maintenance program that will service things like furnaces. However, it may be necessary in some communities to do more as there is not a private sector to do work on housing units.

A second group of purchasers would be businesspeople who are looking to service a rental market. I know a business in Tuktoyaktuk that purchased two units and spent a considerable amount of money renovating and a considerable amount of time resolving land title issues. He is now having trouble renting these units out because there is a limited private rental market in Tuktoyaktuk at the moment and causes main competition with the units managed by another organization. In any event, Mr. Speaker, this person is a businessman who understood the risk of what he was getting into.

I applaud the Housing Corporation for taking the steps to sell off the old housing stocks. However, Mr. Speaker, I would urge the Housing Corporation to ensure that any

potential purchaser, be it an elder or a businessperson, understand the responsibilities of homeownership and be provided information on the current rental market. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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