Thank you, Madam Chair. Many of the first clients of the NWT Housing Corporation's programs are now senior citizens. They no longer require the three or four-bedroom houses they had built for their young families. However, these people now find themselves unable to access any of the services of the corporation, because of the one house in a lifetime policy.

The committee is of the opinion that the corporation would be able to free up houses for the private market if it were to provide smaller housing packages/construction services or possible bridge financing for those elders who no longer require such a large home, but still wish to live in their own stand-alone house.

Committee will be pursuing this with the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.

NWTHC And School Trades Programming

The Standing Committee on Social Programs is pleased with the support that the corporation has been providing to school trades programming.

Exposing young adults to the trades and letting them work on real world applications is the only way that they would be able to make intelligent career choices that take into account the opportunities in the trades.

Members are concerned that in providing housing packages to the schools, the Housing Corporation has thus far concentrated on larger communities. The committee is not saying this is the fault of the Housing Corporation and suspect that it is more a result of the corporation taking advantage of the opportunities that are presented to them.

However, the committee would like to see the Housing Corporation, in cooperation with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, make a concentrated effort to expand into smaller communities and work on developing partnerships with industry and other levels of government.

Madam Chair, I would like to ask the Member for Nunakput, Mr. Pokiak, to carry on. Thank you.