Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Minister.
Debates of Feb. 7th, 2006
This is page numbers 793 - 842 of the Hansard for the 15th Assembly, 4th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was housing.
Topics
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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David Krutko Mackenzie Delta
Mr. Chairman, the 31 units are the responsibility of the owner. The ones that are leased basically fall under the responsibility for teachers that do come in for a period of time, as long as you are able to accommodate them with market housing. So the ones that are owned are the responsibility of the owner, but the ones that we presently lease fall under the responsibility of the LHOs.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Jane Groenewegen Hay River South
So the GNWT pays the NWT Housing Corporation almost $900,000 a year to manage 28 leased units. Does that include anything else other than property management? Does that include utilities or something else? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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David Krutko Mackenzie Delta
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. These housing units were transferred from FMBS to the Housing Corporation which now falls under our responsibility to manage through our corporation.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Jane Groenewegen Hay River South
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If what I am hearing is the entire story, this is absolutely impossible. That is $2500 per unit that the GNWT pays the NWT Housing Corporation to property manage 28 units. They pay, then, $2500 per unit per month? That's $30,000 a year per unit. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Anderson
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Actually, the money that was transferred to us from the Financial Management Board Secretariat, $892,000, is made up of almost $700,000 in lease costs. These are long-term leases that were transferred to us. Some money for escalation costs, $44,000; administration was another $100,000. We manage those on behalf of the GNWT at this time. They sold as many of those units when the large staff housing portfolio were sold off. This is the residual amount that was transferred to the Housing Corporation. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Jane Groenewegen Hay River South
Okay. So this makes it a lot better then. It's only $700,000 a year for 28 units. I'm sorry. Aren't the people applying rent? You are managing these properties; they are occupied by GNWT employees. Aren't they paying rent? If they are, this should be like the market housing issue. It should be full cost recovery. There shouldn't be a $1million difference here. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Anderson
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Many of these units that were put in place were with hamlets and different communities' organizations, they are allowed to keep the rent in the deal that was originally put in place.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members
Whoa!
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Jane Groenewegen Hay River South
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Now we just got this figured out then. So this is a $900,000 per year, ongoing, every year windfall to somebody who actually collects the rent. So why does the Housing Corporation get paid to do the property management if the rent actually gets paid to somebody else, Mr. Chairman? Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Anderson
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This really is money that is just a flow-through through the organization. We don't get money to property manage these units. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Jane Groenewegen Hay River South
So the Housing Corporation doesn't get the $892,000 a year. Who does?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Anderson
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, it is in our base. It was transferred to the Housing Corporation and then we transfer it to these organizations that manage those units. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Jane Groenewegen Hay River South
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is another one of the things I want on my list. That's a significant amount of money. That's almost $1 million that is going to some organizations out there that are getting to put their employees in GNWT staff housing and collect the rent and keep the money. It's a significant amount of money. I want to know who those organizations are. Again, it's only on 28 units. They get to keep $700,000 or $900,000 for 28 units. Do you know how much that is per month? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.