Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The Minister details about how resources would be allocated and now, the next logical question, Mr. Speaker, is what is the placement plan or the long-term plan of placing these units in the communities? What resources have they got earmarked for the Nahendeh riding communities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, it's a process that we go through by way of a 10-year plan that we have developed. In that plan we are implementing the new needs surveys and also trying to ensure that we are able to accommodate communities that are in need, according to the survey. But more importantly, Mr. Speaker, it has to meet the budgetary criteria for the corporation. As we know, we are now phasing out social funding. Again, in order to meet that need, we have to work within the budget. So right now, Mr. Speaker, we have to allocate based on need, but also within the budget restraints we have.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I was just wondering if the Minister had enough time to review the federal budget, in terms of its allocation towards housing. Does it have implications for us and can we expect, in the foreseeable future, to address more of our housing needs in the regions? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am working in conjunction with Bill Erasmus through the AFN allocation. As everybody knows, in the budget there was $5 billion allocated for aboriginal housing. We are working closely with Bill and the people he has, developing the proposal to take forth to the AFN meetings this summer; to look at a plan for the North for this funding so we can access funding for aboriginal communities on top of the funding we have through our core funding allocations.

Again, in the budget, that's one area that we're looking at. Also, there is work that is ongoing with the federal Minister of Housing to see about establishing a northern housing strategy that will be developed between the three territories to give to the federal Minister and make him aware these are the territorial positions going forward for housing for northern Canada. How we've been dealt with it in the past is, because of our small population, we've been allocated based on per capita. Out of a $350 million pot of funds, we received $400,000 over three years. We cannot meet our challenges with $400,000 over three years. So we have to change the system of how the dollars are allocated, working with our federal counterparts and our aboriginal partners, in order to meet the needs in aboriginal communities.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Just to take it away from the national level again and just bring it back to, say, Jean Marie River, their need is four units. When can the Minister assure Jean Marie River that it's not going to be 10 years from now, but three years from now or two years from now? Does the Minister have the ability to do that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the processes we're working on is trying to ensure people have a better understanding of our programs and services with regard to the IHP programs, independent housing programs, our EDAP programs and other programs that are out there. I think that because of the needs surveys we have, I know it's an issue here in the House, on how those dollars are allocated. But again, it's an application-based program. We do have program dollars going into Jean Marie River this fiscal year. Also, looking at the needs surveys that we do have, we are looking at revising our needs based on those communities that have well in excess of 30 percent in core needs. Again, we're focusing on those communities in need and improving the maintenance dollars we do have to improve on those units that are there, to improve the lives and housing in those communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, my questions this afternoon are for the Minister of Finance and it relates to our ability to cash flow the growing and inexorable deficit that we have in our capacity to afford our housing program. Mr. Speaker, we heard nothing at all in the federal budget yesterday on a national program, let alone a northern basis, for housing. The CMHC program, of course, is drying up. The Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation has suggested that maybe there's something out of an aboriginal program, but I'm not convinced and I want to go to the Minister of Finance to ask what our options are to cash flow for this very long-term and very real need; our government's housing needs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we have in a number of areas and programs with our partners and the federal government, we are trying to come up with working arrangements with them to see if they can continue the dollars for the social housing program. I'm aware the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation is continuing on that initiative. The other areas we would have to look at are to come up with the dollars that are being reduced on an annual basis now. To come up with the additional dollars, we'd have to look at our own-source revenues if it's not going to come from the federal government. So we'd have to look at how we would fund that and that would include possibly more taxing or, hopefully as we go forward, our own-source

revenues, including royalties of the non-renewable resources sector. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister has opened up an interesting area: our own-source revenues. I'd sort of like to turn that around a little bit. What about our own ability to provide incentives to our partners, builders, developers, communities, aboriginals, development corporations, to step up to the plate to join us in this venture? But we would need to make taxation and revenue decisions to, as I say, provide those incentives. Is that something that we have in our toolbox to help build more houses? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do have already within the toolbox, as the Member has mentioned, with the arrangements that have been worked out through the Housing Corporation, incentives that do help people get into their own homes and build homes in the Northwest Territories. The big one around that is EDAP, or Expanded Downpayment Assistance Program. That's one avenue. From a government end, from the incentive to either...I heard a Member earlier in their Member's statement talking about a tax relief of some sort or another. That's something we haven't looked at directly. Our goals are first to try to find more money from those that are directly involved and we consider the federal government as being a key part of that picture. From what we have available to us, one of the things that the Housing Corporation, for example, is doing is selling off some of the older units and single-dwelling units and looking at multi-unit facilities. Instead of one detached home, looking at a four-plex of that type, because we know that the operations and maintenance are lower for a multi-plex than for a single residence. So those are some of the areas they've been working on. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister be able to move these kinds of things forward through Cabinet? Because I know on this side of the House there's a lot of readiness and willingness to listen to some new ideas and some thinking outside the box. But right now I don't have much confidence at all in the proposals that are before us. Will there be some new and innovative ways of financing long term brought to the committee and this Assembly, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, through the Department of Finance, if there are some initiatives brought forward that we could look at that are sustainable from what we see our fiscal picture being, we would look at those and see if in fact they had some merit to go in and investigate a little further. We know, for example, with the reworking of the Housing Corporation and its mandate, there may be some opportunities there to look at going into the area of affordable and sustainable housing and how we would fund those as the Government of the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Your final supplementary, Mr. Braden. No further questions. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.