Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I find that completely outrageous. There's been a number of concerns raised in the media and from constituents of mine about the fairness of this approach. Some seniors receive fully subsidized housing while others are struggling day in and day out to maintain independent homes with very little support, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Minister, what is the plan of the Housing Corporation to address a more fair and equitable distribution of housing support for seniors in the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as all the Members know, we are moving towards centralizing our social funding to one institution, which is the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, where we've basically allocated $30 million from the housing program in regards to subsidies that we provide and through the arrangement of centralizing the funds that are provided to people in the Northwest Territories for programs and subsidy programs from home grants in regards to subsidies for our housing stock for social housing and also in regards to programs that we have from fuel subsidies and whatnot to find a fair process. I think in order to do that now, we have an avenue how we can revamp the program, make it more fair and also have the opportunity to revise it and ensure that we do have a program for people that are in homeownership, but also people in public housing. So there's presently a process in place to look at that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd suggest the Minister get on that as soon as possible. I mean this type of situation that was allowed to take place under his watch should not be allowed to happen under any circumstances, and he should go back with the Minister of ECE and develop a plan so that there's a means test and people are treated fairly. I'd like to know from the Minister how many other similar housing units has the Housing Corporation made available to seniors at no cost, regardless of means, in other NWT communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Speaker, as I stated in my opening remarks, this program has been there for 10 years. The government-of-the-day made a political decision to allow seniors in social housing not to pay rent. The decision was made and with this government they have made a decision to look at a social income review of all social programs, centralized it in one area and look at exactly the fairness of our programs and services. Right now that review is taking place, they will be looking at these issues to ensure that we have a fair process for all people within our social housing stock to people within the private sector. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Your final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This approach is obviously causing division amongst seniors in our communities and while no one could really begrudge a couple for taking advantage of such a generous program, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation can't provide this level of support to all seniors. It's impossible, Mr. Speaker, that they do that. I'd like to ask the Minister is this an approach to seniors' housing that the Minister plans to expand on? He started on it, but I want to hear an answer from him today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Speaker, as I stated, we are reviewing it through the review of our income security programs. Right now, as a government, we have decided, as Members of this House and as this government, that we are centralizing the programs that we deliver to find a fair mechanism to all people regardless if they live in their own home or are in social housing. Because of the inequities of our programs and services, we want to ensure that everybody is treated fairly. So we are presently going through that process. Once basically there is a review done, the Minister of Education will be coming back to this House to ensure that the programs and services we do deliver are fair and equitable to all residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krukto. Oral questions. The honourable Member from Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions are a follow-up as a result of my Member's statement with regard to O and M and the Department of MACA. I'm sure that, well, perhaps the Minister can tell me, Mr. Speaker, if the department is aware of the gap that already exists in the new funding formula for transferring the responsibility of O and M to the communities. It really, really makes sense to everybody's eyes, but using a three-year rolling average just doesn't work, just because of the increase in energy costs. I'd just like to know if the Minister is aware of this, have the communities contacted him and what's the initial plan to address this? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have been working on a number of funding allocations that we provide to the communities. We have had discussions with the NWT Association of Communities. We have had discussions with LGANT, Local Government Administrators in the Northwest Territories, and we've also had a discussion in the communities with the different municipalities about a number of areas where we provide funding. Of course, the New Deal is something that's on the drawing board and we have rolled out the information and communications to the community. We've also been allocated some new dollars to put towards the capital infrastructure in the communities and this has increased from $17 million to what it is now at $28 million. We've provided that information and we continue to provide that information for the communities. As part of this process in reviewing community governance, we're also reviewing the water and sewer subsidy and we are also having discussions regarding the O and M for the community for governance. We will continue to do so. We have another round of discussions happening this spring and we plan to bring some of that information forward when we complete all those discussions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Is the Minister's approach to a discrepancy between how much a community spends and how much a community will receive through this complex funding formula, will that be addressed this year or is that something that the communities can discuss and raise with the Minister soon, because it will impact their current year's budget, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, there is and some discussion has already taken place. There is discussions and concerns brought forward by the two associations that we work with and have working groups with. We have had discussions with the community. We've been alerted of areas of concern. For the most part, the communities have come back and informed us that the funding formula is okay but the funding amount may be not adequate. So they're asking us not to change the formula, but maybe look at the amounts that are allocated through the formula and that maybe we need to do something in that area. We hope to have all this information in place and have some decisions

so that we can bring some of this stuff forward during the business planning this fall. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have been in contact with the Minister's office to advise him that this fiscal year...and he's absolutely right; the communities are happy with the formula, it's just that because of the rising energy costs in the last six months, like, this formula probably took some time to work on, the six months that they took to work on this formula is just when the gas and fuel prices were rising, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister address this year's shortfall this year as opposed to waiting until next fiscal year? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We always take the position to deal with the communities that accumulate a deficit and I'd like to point out we only have, I think this year we have four communities that have accumulated deficits and we continue to work with a recovery plan, we work on doing analysis where they may have overspent or where there are issues about shortfall. So we'll continue to do those things. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.