Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Minister Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I will see about getting back to the Member with that information at the end of February, probably March, but I will make an attempt to look at these and see exactly which ones are up for review in five years or whatever, and also exactly what the costs associated with the terms of these are, and also the length of time that those leases are out there for.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this is not the first time I've raised this issue and it's good to know that the Minister is now going to have a look at them and assess them. But I raised this issue with the Minister and his staff not so long ago. I want to know, since I raised it with them last time, have there been any renewals exercised for five-year terms? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Minister.

I couldn't answer the Member's question, but the last lease that we did enter into was in 1998, which was almost seven years ago.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mrs. Groenewegen.

The last lease entered into in 1998, Mr. Chairman, doesn't mean anything. Maybe there

was one entered into in 1995 that was for 20 years. We've all seen the chart. I mean, that's not the point when the last rent supp...I know rent supp was kind of the flavour of the day for a while, and of course there haven't been any just lately, but I'm talking about the ones that were entered into that were 20-year contracts based on five-year renewal periods. That's what I'm talking about. Have any of those five-year terms been signed on in the last two months? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, my understanding is that most of these leases are locked in for the term of the lease, but there is an escalation rate that is in there that we do based on the escalation rate that they are able to move on that, but my understanding is that these are locked in leases for the term of the lease. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. I've got Mr. Braden next. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We were exchanging some views about the mandate of the Housing Corporation in my last turn, and there was a discussion about some of the commitments and the paperwork that's on record regarding the evolution of this project. Mr. Chairman, I pointed out at least one of several documents dating back to April of 2004, which outlined the work plan for doing this. If I recall the Minister's words, he said it was something I pulled out of my hat. It is not something I pulled out of my hat, Madam Chair. It is a document that the corporation circulated for committee to help us become familiar with what was going on. It was done under his watch. I wanted to put that on the record. Something that is essential to committee being able to do its business is to be able to rely on the paper trail, and the records of decision, and briefings that are presented to us.

Again, I don't want to get into a war of words, but this was not something that I pulled out of my hat. It is a very legitimate part of this issue. Where I would like to go with this, Madam Chair, is to find out what today is the status of the task of redefining the mandate of the NWT Housing Corporation. What is on the books now? What can committee expect and what can the public expect as far as at least being involved or having access to the redefinition of our Housing Corporation or, in broader terms, Madam Chair, what should this government be doing to satisfy its mandate and the needs of its people to supply adequate, safe and affordable housing?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, like I mentioned earlier, there has been a committee struck made up of people from the Department of Executive. Also we have people who are responsible for strategic planning, and my department will also be involved. We are trying to get a view for the public with regard to where we are going with our mandate, but, more importantly, get input from the stakeholders we have out there and also from the local housing authorities and also with regard to the people here in this Legislature to ensure that the mandate we have put forward is the right direction we are going and also realizing we will have to come back to a standing committee. I am hoping, like I stated, that the committee will report back possibly at the end of May so we can have something ready to debate in the June session.

So that is the time frame we are looking at. Again, we are looking for input from the stakeholders that also includes the MLAs, the committees and the LHOs and the staff of the corporation with regard to where we are going. Again, there has been an independent committee struck. We were directed by the Premier to get out there and get this review done. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This new committee process, under whose direction is it operating and to what level will our government be reporting, Madam Chair?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I will refer this question to the Premier.

To who? Oh, the Premier. Thank you. Mr. Premier.

Madam Chair, the committee will be reporting to me as Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Does the Premier then concur with the information that the Minister has provided, that we should be anticipating something by this spring?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The committee will be going out and getting input from all stakeholders in the Territories, including Members of this Legislative Assembly. The work of the committee is to be completed by May 15th. Thank you, Madam Chair.