Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by honourable Member Dave Krutko of Mackenzie Delta, the Transfer of Responsibility for Social Housing motion:
WHEREAS the responsibility for the administration of the Public Housing Rental Subsidy was moved to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, from the N.W.T. Housing Corporation, effective April 2, 2005;
AND WHEREAS over the past three years this program transfer has negatively impacted the residents of the Northwest Territories who live in social housing by unnecessarily complicating what was a simple process administered by the local housing organization;
AND WHEREAS one of the unforeseen consequences of this poorly conceived and communicated program transfer has been an increase to the number of households that are in arrears with their local housing organizations;
AND WHEREAS these arrears have endangered the financial viability of some local housing authorities and have made it difficult for them to find the necessary funding to effect repairs of public housing stocks;
AND WHEREAS these same local housing organizations and N.W.T. Housing Corporation have demonstrated their capacity and competence in administering social housing and in dealing with tenants in social housing in a caring and professional manner;
AND WHEREAS during the election campaign, the majority of voter concerns expressed to Members centered on the delivery of social housing and problems encountered since the program transfer to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment;
AND WHEREAS the same material facts that led the 15th Assembly to adopt Motion 10-15(5) on
November 1, 2006, directing the government to return responsibility for administering the Public Housing Rental Subsidy to the N.W.T. Housing Corporation and its local housing organizations still exist;
NOW THEREFORE I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that this Legislative Assembly strongly recommends that the responsibility for the administration of social
housing be once again placed under the control of the N.W.T. Housing Corporation;
AND FURTHER, in keeping with the concept of centralizing subsidy programs, that the responsibility for determining the methodology for calculating social housing subsidies be retained by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment;
AND FURTHERMORE that this Legislative Assembly recommends the government provide a response for this Motion within 120 days.