Thank you, Madam Chair. Much of the money for new social housing and housing in non-market communities is predicated on the federal government providing a significant portion of the required funding.

With the recent change in government at the federal level, it is unclear when, or even if, the funding for northern aboriginal housing contained in the Kelowna Agreement or the Novel housing proposal will come to the Territories.

Members of the committee are concerned with the plans of the corporation should the potential federal funding for these new initiatives not materialize, Madam Chair. There does not appear to be any plan on the part of this government to address the housing needs of northerners within the context of our present financial reality.

The committee is not saying we abandon pushing the federal government for more funding to take advantage of the Novel housing proposal and to address the shortage of housing in many of our smaller communities, but we, as a government and territory, should be prepared to react to our housing crisis on our own.

The committee looks forward to further information on the economic viability of the Novel housing proposal and other options on financing much needed housing in our communities.

For now, Madam Chair, the NWT Housing Corporation needs to focus on what it can do today, not what it may be able to do five years from now if the federal government comes up with the money.

I would like to ask, Madam Chair, my colleague from Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod, to carry on with the report.