Thank you, Mr. Anderson. Mrs. Groenewegen.
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
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Jane Groenewegen Hay River South
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That would be completely understandable in remote communities. I would suggest that traditional lending sources would be unfamiliar, that would be unfamiliar territory to them and they wouldn't know the communities well enough to know what kind of risk they were taking and it might be difficult for them to assess. Is this limited to remote communities, or is the Loan Guarantee Program available in all communities in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
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. We do offer it in all communities in the Northwest Territories. We have had a larger take-up in the larger centres to date, but we are certainly open and we've also done projects in the most remote communities in the NWT. Thank you.
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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
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In the larger communities, then, where there's...Well, the only one I can think of where there's a lot of...Well, maybe Inuvik, too. Maybe Inuvik and Yellowknife where there's a lot of construction going on. I guess where you see multi-residential complexes going up on a fairly regular basis in Yellowknife, again, what's your purpose in being involved in loan guarantees to precipitate that development if there's a market and there's a demand and, obviously developers are providing a supply? What do you see as being your role in there? Wouldn't that just stand up to any kind of a business case test in a larger community where there's lots of access to commercial financing? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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. That's a good point you make; however, we've consulted with the financial institutions and a lot of cases, in the cases where we've offered this service, it's been well received by industry, and it's a very low risk situation for the NWT Housing Corporation, so we've been providing that service. Thank you.
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
I wonder, Mr. Chairman, if you've ever had any feedback with respect to the Loan Guarantee Program in terms of market disruption, whereby this might give one developer a decided advantage over another that wanted to get a project off the ground? I know you could say it's probably available to either or all, but have you ever had any feedback whereby people in the industry thought that this was
perhaps an unfair or disruptive action on the part of the Housing Corporation? Thank you.
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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February 6th, 2006
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Anderson
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Pretty much all of the projects that we do have, have been with small developers. We haven't had, I don't believe, any projects with the big developers in the NWT. They have better access to financing than a lot of the small ones do, so that's the group that we're providing assistance to. Of course, our objective is more affordable housing in the NWT. Thank you.
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
Thank you. As far as your Loan Guarantee Program, Mr. Chairman, as far as the Loan Guarantee Program going to the issue of affordable housing, I don't really know how that would exactly impact the costs. It might move a project ahead that wouldn't normally be able to, but how it would affect the affordability of a project I don't fully understand. Do you see that role as something that could be easily consolidated with what the Business Development Corporation already offers in terms of business support? Thank you.
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. There's no question; I think it would be offered through there, as well. It's a bit of a niche market that we've been working in because of our familiarity with housing, of course, across the NWT. But whether it's provided by us or another corporation of the government would be fine. Thank you.
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The Chair David Ramsay
Thank you, Mr. Anderson. I don't have anybody else on my list for general comments, so I'm just wondering is it committee's wish...Oh, Mrs. Groenewegen.
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Jane Groenewegen Hay River South
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, my question, just in following up to my previous questions, is you must have to have expertise resident within the NWT Housing Corporation to assess such proposals, that same expertise that's already resident in another agency of the GNWT. Would this not be somehow some kind of a duplication because we have to assess the applications? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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. We do the assessment in house, in consultation with our partners in the banking industry. We have to be satisfied of the risks associated with the project, as well as the bank's, and as well as the ability of the project to qualify for long-term financing. So we work together in a collaborative effort to make that happen. Thank you.
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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
Thank you. This is a substantive support to business. How transparent are your cases or your work in this area? The whole issue of confidentiality came up around the BDIC business support programs, as well. What's the policy of your corporation with respect to transparency? Thank you.
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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. We do, because we do support these projects, they are identified on our financial statements as continual liability to the Housing Corporation. So we do include them in that, which is part of our annual report completed on an annual basis. Thank you.
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