Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you that this government, this council and this Minister is on the verge of being negligent. It's illegal not to have that policy. Now, how could they use the power of the office of the Auditor General to dither? Mr. Speaker, that didn't apply to cases where there is a Supreme Court of Canada decision and a Supreme Court of the NWT decision that says what you are doing is discriminatory. This is outrageous, Mr. Speaker. He said, on page 884, and I quote: "The current policy, 3.10, does not specifically list permanent partial disability...". That's a problem. You don't need to consult, you don't need to dither, you don't have to revisit. Change the policy. Why don't you do that right now? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's also important to remember that the Auditor General's report pointed out that the Minister does not make policy. It's the board or the Governance Council that makes policy. So the Governance Council has agreed that they are going to look at their policy. They are prepared to consult and make the changes and they have a policy in place that allows for a lifetime disability pension right now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess nobody has the power to make the policy. I wish I could be in there and make that policy, Mr. Speaker. The Minister has the power to make the policy. WCB law allows him to send a directive and he said yesterday that the council is going to make the policy but they want to consult more. I am telling you it's a good thing that the WCB did not go to the Supreme Court because they would have had their wrists slapped again and they should change their legal advisor and do the thing now...

Do you have a question, Ms. Lee?

...or he should resign.

I didn't hear a question there, Ms. Lee. Do you want to rephrase your question, Ms. Lee?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let me just be clear again. The law of the Territories is...

Do you have a question, Mr. Lee?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister, will the Premier, will the council, get legal on chronic pain policy, change the policy to meet with the Valic decision? They cannot be illegal any longer, and I apply that to the Minister of Justice, too.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Governance Council has agreed that they are going to examine the policy. They are going to change it if it needs to be changed. They are quite prepared to move on looking at that. That commitment has been made. I have made it publicly. The issue is one that they have said they are going to move on. I will talk again to the chair of the Governance Council and make sure that they look at it very quickly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What is it exactly stopping the Minister to write that directive?

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I understand it, the Financial Administration Act prohibits the Minister from providing any direction to the WCB that will impact on the accident fund. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve. Sorry, the honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (English not provided)

Mr. Speaker, with my previous Member's statement on the 182 public units in Behchoko that owe outrageous rental arrears, I would like to ask the Minister of the Housing Corporation, can the Minister explain to this Assembly how we, the GNWT, Government of the Northwest Territories, allow one public unit, as an example in Behchoko, to accumulate $76,413 in rental arrears which is still increasing? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the objective we set for our local authorities is that they do have to collect in the range of 90 percent of the revenues from rents that are charged to the tenants. We also have the Rent Supp Program, which offers those tenants a subsidy on the amount of rent that is being paid either through a subsidy, do an evaluation of the tenant to determine how much they are supposed to pay. As the Member states, these go back for some time. In order for someone to end up with $76,000 in arrears, they have to either have a high, high income or haven't paid their rent for a number of years. I think that is the problem we are having in collections and we, as a government, and as an organization, are trying to resolve this issue by ensuring that those people have options that they can look at. They can go into a payment plan, they can get into homeownership, but the important thing is they have to make the attempt to pay. It has been an issue with regard to Behchoko.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Minister stated, this has been an ongoing issue for quite some time now. That's quite true. The LHO is under the umbrella of the NWT Housing Corporation. We do have the accountability there, Mr. Speaker, as the NWT government. Mr. Speaker, my next question leads to what the Minister indicated on unemployment or high employment. There is something wrong with this system, Mr. Speaker. How can people who are not employed incur debts such as $76,000 or owing an average of $11,000 when this government has a system in place such as the Housing Subsidy Program? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Krutko.