Thank you, Madam Chair. Much of the discussion at the committee level over the budget planning cycle has focused on the new mandate and structure for the NWT Housing Corporation.

Madam Chair, there was a breakdown in the committee consultation process that has been addressed and remedied. Members of the committee were provided the opportunity to comment on the program redesign and were pleased that a number of their suggestions were incorporated into the final product that was announced at the start of this session.

Federal Funding For Social Housing And Non-Market Communities

The issue of declining funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the CMHC, to maintain existing public housing stocks remains a concern of the committee. In 2006-2007, the first year that there was a significant drop in CMHC funding, we lost $328,000. The decreases will vary from year to year, but the end result is the total lapse of CMHC funding by the year 2037-2038. Again, the Minister is encouraged to work with his provincial and territorial counterparts to lobby the federal government to reinstate funding for the building and delivery of social housing.

The effect of the declining CMHC funding is exacerbated by the reluctance of the current federal government to live up to the terms of the Kelowna Accord, which would have provided significant funding to meet the housing needs of aboriginals.

Again, the Minister, as the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation and as the Premier, is encouraged to work with his provincial and territorial counterparts and aboriginal governments to see this agreement fulfilled. Madam Chair, to continue the report, I will turn it over to my colleague, the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.