This is page numbers 1013 - 1040 of the Hansard for the 15th Assembly, 3rd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was housing.

Topics

Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1023

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I outlined the mandate of the NWT Housing Corporation. I was just wondering if the Minister could, just in rough percentages, tell us how much of the mandate in the resources and energy of this corporation is devoted to social housing needs versus these other things such as economic development initiatives, research, training, these other things. Thank you.

Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1023

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Krutko.

Return To Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1023

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we received roughly $35 million from CMHC for social housing. As was mentioned in the House, those dollars are declining over the next 30 years. We are seeing it basically decline to zero. So because of that, we are having to refocus our efforts through looking at our mandate, but also instituting our business plans and working with communities through partnership agreements. I believe at the end of the day the people that make the difference are people in communities at the frontline through the local housing authorities, those organizations to devolve these authorities from the pot to ensure that those program responsibilities will be delivered to the client, which in most cases are in the communities. So we are looking at changing the mandate, coming forward with a 10-year plan and also realizing we have a major decline in cash flow, especially from the federal government through the CMHC funding, which again is $35 million which will decline over the next number of years.

Return To Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1023

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1023

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister know just approximately a ballpark figure as to what is spent by the NWT Housing Corporation on administrative overhead of headquarters? Thank you.

Supplementary To Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1023

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1023

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have that information presently at hand. I believe it is in the audit report that I tabled in the House

earlier this week, but I will definitely get that information for the Member.

Further Return To Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1024

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1024

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the reason why I ask about how the mandate is divided and how much is spent on administrative overhead versus program delivery is because I believe that there are a lot of things that could be done that may seem smaller scale than building a lot of new housing units. I noticed, since I travel in the communities, that there are a lot of boarded up, vacant housing units in all of our communities, particularly in the smaller communities. I would like to know if the Minister has an idea of what kind of inventory of vacant units the NWT Housing Corporation has across the North. Thank you.

Supplementary To Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1024

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1024

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Again, Mr. Speaker, because we do have units that we maintain every other year, we put aside 10 to 12 units in a community so that we can renovate them over a period of time. We move our clients to different units. Because of the number of turnover that we have because of our maintenance programs, that number is inconsistent, so I can't give the Member that information because it is a moving number. We do take units off of our system in order to meet our maintenance program. So because of that, those vacancies may not be...Again, I will make an attempt to get that information to the Member.

Further Return To Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1024

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1024

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am thinking about more units I have seen in the communities that are boarded up. They look like no one has lived in them for quite some time, but they still may have some salvage value. The NWT Housing Corporation, if in fact they own them, might do well to turn those over to band councils, community corporations, a private developer, somebody who would want to put these units back into circulation in the communities so that there are more housing options available to those residents. Would the Minister commit to undertake an inventory of units that are not vacant because of maintenance, but are vacant because, essentially, they are out of service and abandoned? Thank you.

Supplementary To Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1024

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Krutko.

Further Return To Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1024

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Yes, Mr. Speaker, we are in the process of doing that because we realize that we have to start identifying units that we have to dispose of, to have them replaced with other units. Right now, the way the local housing authorities receive the money, it is based on O and M dollars for their unit. They don't get any new O and M dollars for replacing those units until they actually physically replace those units. So if you are carrying those units, you don't get extra dollars for those new units until you replace that unit. Because of that, it is something that we are looking at. We have now hired a lands person to identify what lands we have in communities, where our units are, which units are getting disposed of, so we know exactly what our total inventory is. We are doing that at the present time. Again, I will commit to the Member that once we have more of that detail in place, we are willing to share that with the Members. Thank you.

Further Return To Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Question 320-15(3): Social Housing Resources
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1024

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Question 321-15(3): Process To Address Land Shortage In Yellowknife
Item 6: Oral Questions

October 26th, 2004

Page 1024

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod. I am just wondering what steps the government is currently taking to address the chronic lack of available land for development in the city of Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 321-15(3): Process To Address Land Shortage In Yellowknife
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1024

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Return To Question 321-15(3): Process To Address Land Shortage In Yellowknife
Question 321-15(3): Process To Address Land Shortage In Yellowknife
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1024

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Mr. Speaker, we have a number of different processes across the NWT for providing additional land to the towns and cities. In the case of Yellowknife, we have not been aware that there has been an application filed for additional land outside of the town boundaries. We have been discussing the issue of some lands reverted back from the mines. We have included the Akaitcho Territory First Nations and the city. We have been having a number of meetings to come to some kind of a long-term plan of how we would arrange for land and also for the First Nations to bring their interests forward and also the city's, to be able to develop a long-term plan. Right now, we are developing a process. We haven't finalized an agreement as to how it is going to unfold at this point. We are still in discussions. Thank you.

Return To Question 321-15(3): Process To Address Land Shortage In Yellowknife
Question 321-15(3): Process To Address Land Shortage In Yellowknife
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1024

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 321-15(3): Process To Address Land Shortage In Yellowknife
Question 321-15(3): Process To Address Land Shortage In Yellowknife
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1024

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Minister, for your response. The Minister spoke of a process that has been started by his department working with both the aboriginal government, the Akaitcho, and the City of Yellowknife. He says that work has begun on this agreement to set aside some land for development and to try to work together and cooperate on a long-term plan for the city of Yellowknife. I am just wondering when we might expect some dates or some of this work to be concluded and for the City of Yellowknife to have some surety on available land. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary To Question 321-15(3): Process To Address Land Shortage In Yellowknife
Question 321-15(3): Process To Address Land Shortage In Yellowknife
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1025

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 321-15(3): Process To Address Land Shortage In Yellowknife
Question 321-15(3): Process To Address Land Shortage In Yellowknife
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1025

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the Yellowknife area, we, as a department, have to follow a process that is in place, set up, and agreed upon by the Akaitcho Territory and this government through Aboriginal Affairs that spells out an interim measures agreement that we, as MACA, have to follow. In this case, we have had discussions with the Akaitcho First Nations and the city, and we have tentatively agreed that we would work towards developing a process where we wouldn't run into a roadblock where the city is interested in some lands and the First Nations are also interested, or any of those types of situations. So we are working on a process right now and we are working trying to follow the Interim Measures Agreement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Further Return To Question 321-15(3): Process To Address Land Shortage In Yellowknife
Question 321-15(3): Process To Address Land Shortage In Yellowknife
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1025

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 321-15(3): Process To Address Land Shortage In Yellowknife
Question 321-15(3): Process To Address Land Shortage In Yellowknife
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 1025

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would agree with the Minister that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs does have a role to play in brokering this arrangement between the aboriginal governments and the City of Yellowknife. I would just like to ask the Minister, is this process going to take two, three, four, or five years? When is it going to be concluded? When you enter into a process like this, it can take some time to get to the end of it. I would like to ask the Minister when that will be concluded. Thank you.