Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I was not involved as a Minister in that initiative to waive the BIP for the correctional centre. In fact, this is the first request by the Housing Corporation to waive the BIP. So we had not done an analysis on what the results were with the correctional centre. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that on Friday the tender closes; the one that is out there. For Regular Members, this is our last opportunity in public to question the fellows on the other side of this House, and I almost feel like it is not enough time. We need to have some more debate on this, and I don't believe the Regular Members have been supplied the information that would allow us to believe that hiding under the assumption that it is for nurses, it is for teachers and things like that doesn't preclude, Mr. Speaker, the fact that the government didn't do its homework on this, and the benefits are not staying in the North. I would like to ask another direct question to the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. Can he cancel this tender, Mr. Speaker, and put the BIP back in it where it belongs so that the businesses here in the Northwest Territories, the manufacturing industry here in the Northwest Territories, have at least a fighting chance? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe I answered this question a few days ago. There is opportunity, yes, to cancel. At what cost, I am not sure at this point. The request was proposed to me yesterday to look at extending the timelines by two weeks. We are looking at that, we have some legal people who have given us an opinion, whether we are in a position to do that at this point, do we have adequate time to give notice, we are not sure. We are checking also with the barge companies to see if we can move the dates given to us for shipping. Right now we are being told that those dates are firm, however, we are asking for some consideration. We are also being notified by them that there is a lot of oil and gas activity in the different communities that they have to ship to, they have other priorities, and they have community resupply. So our request is not a serious one to them; we are not a big customer. We are looking at that, we are asking them for reconsideration. So we are taking it to Cabinet tomorrow. We are going to have the discussion on whether we can go ahead with a two-week extension; but to waive the whole project at this point, I don't believe is something that we want to do.

I want to point out to the Member that we are also under extreme pressure from the communities not to do this, to continue to go ahead with this project and not waive it. It is something where there is a huge public outcry. We have heard it for years, we are trying to address it, we are trying to ensure that the communities in the Deh Cho, the

Beaufort and the Sahtu have houses for this year. We don't know what the effects of that will be by cancelling this project, and at this point, I will not consider advising or asking Cabinet. I wanted to just stress that point. Thank you.

Again, just a reminder, we do have a lot of people waiting on the list to ask questions, and we are running the clock a little bit here. So could you be specific to your responses to the questions, and also when you ask the question. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That doesn't leave me with a great deal of surety on this. The Cabinet knew about this last week, they know that today is the last day of session, Mr. Speaker. Why can't they make a decision, why do they have to wait until tomorrow, Mr. Speaker? Why is it that the government has to wait until tomorrow to get together to make a decision like this? I can't for the life of me think of a reason why, except for that they won't be able to be asked in public again why they waived the BIP on this. Mr. Speaker, does the tender actually split the cost of the units with the setup of the units, and how is that going to be managed when the actual units arrive in the communities they are scheduled to go to? Thank you.

Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, the contract is a contract for commodity, we have the detail here. It spells out the technical information that we were looking for. We are looking for a best-cost scenario. It is only for the mobile homes at this point; FOB Hay River for the barging communities, and the communities that are on the road system, FOB there. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just one final supplementary. Is it the government's intention to waive the BIP on the setup of these units as well when they get into the communities? Thank you.

Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, the responsibility for the setup will be handled by our LHOs. The BIP on this whole initiative was waived for all of it, I believe. Thank you.

Item 6, oral questions. The Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation is on the hot seat, maybe we will just carry on with some questions on his portfolio.

---Laughter

I wanted to ask the Minister, in light of the CMHC's plans to eliminate all funding for public housing in Canada including the NWT by 2038, and that the conundrum of the NWT Housing Corporation is how are they going to raise their own revenue to retain the current level of public housing programs. One thing in the public housing program that has been a real crutch for the staff and the clients in public housing is the rent scale program, which leaves the local housing authorities with a very high level of outstanding receivables every year that the government tends to write off. It is a disincentive for people that are seeking full-time employment, and it provides many loopholes in the system where people are getting away with not paying their fair share of rent. It has been a concern for many Members that are both clients and just regular community members in my constituency, and I am sure others. I am wondering if the department and the Minister will commit to a comprehensive review of the rent scale program, which will address the concerns of LHOs and public housing clients, and not going with just basically what the headquarters staff recommendations are to adjustments in the program and how they will affect the public at large. Mahsi.

Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, two questions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe it is housing theme week.

---Laughter

The issue by the Member is a serious one. It is something that has also been noted by the Auditor General that it is an issue that has to be focused on. We have been attempting to improve our collections. We have, over the last couple of years, seen drastic improvement. We still have a number of tenants who are in arrears. Our whole social program is based and assessed on tenants' ability to pay, with a ceiling of 30 percent. I will take that back for a review. It may be time that we do that, and I will get back to the Member with some time frames as to when that will happen. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for his commitment to doing some kind of departmental review. Has the Housing Corporation ever considered the approach that the Nunavut government has been taking on their outstanding rent receivables that they have considered in their new rent scale program? Thank you.

Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I haven't personally reviewed the initiative by the Nunavut government. However, I will take the first opportunity to do so. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will look forward to receiving some recommendations out of that review of the Nunavut rent scale because I think it works, and it takes a different approach and bases everything on the previous year's taxable income of their clients.

Could the Minister instruct his department to come back within the next few months with some documentation on some well researched and consulted recommendation on changes to our current rent scale program? Thank you.