Thank you, Mr.

Chair. I’ll be

supporting this motion. I have many constituents who are really concerned about accessibility for disabled people. The arrears are pervasive again in this issue. We do have some programming there, but arrears are a barrier again, because the people are applying for it. They’ve got some new disabled people moving into their homes.

I’m supporting this motion because it’s about looking at the different areas and coming up with a unique strategy to address the issues of our disabled in our communities and to provide for their needs, It’s as simple as putting ramps up to their doorways to make life much easier, to get around the mobility issues. It’s just simple things that we’re asking the government for. They don’t cost very much money, either. It’s something that the government’s got to be more flexible about. It has to identify and move these programs around to suit the needs that currently exist. I don’t have to say that we’ve got an aging population, and it’s probably the pride of our health care system that people are living longer and longer. But how do we continue to take care of them? People want to live in their own homes; they don’t want to live in regional centres. This is about creating more housing stock for that sector as well as improving existing stock, Mr. Chair. So I’ll be supporting this motion. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. To the motion, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I also will be supporting the motion. But I think the motion should maybe go a little further and reference barrier-free housing. I think that by simply making reference to a system-delivery strategy that focuses on accessible living, we’re talking about more than just putting a ramp on a house or widening doors and whatnot. So I’d like to suggest an amendment to the motion, if I can. Where it talks about focus on accessible living opportunities, I’d like to add “and barrier-free housing for families.” That includes disabled persons, so if that’s okay with the mover,

I’d like to ask if I can make an amendment to the motion.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. We’ll have to get a copy in hand. Until that time, let’s take a short recess. We shall return.

The Committee of the Whole took a short

recess.

I would like to call Committee of the Whole back to order. I would like to begin by asking Mr. Krutko to read his amendment to the motion into the record. Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Chairman, I move that Committee Motion 25-16(2) be amended by inserting the words “and barrier-free housing” immediately after the words “accessible living opportunities.” Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The motion to amend is in order. To the amendment.

I’m hearing question. Question is called.

Amendment motion carried.

The amendment, as stated, is carried. We will return to debate of the original motion as amended. To the motion. Mr. Hawkins.

Mr. Chairman, I’m calling question.

Motion as amended carried.

Okay, moving on. Thank you for that, Mr.

Krutko. Any further

questions on 2-159, Programs and District Operations?

NWT Housing Corporation, Programs and

District Operations, Operations Expenditure Summary: $18.592 million, approved.

Moving on to Programs and District Operations, Grants and Contributions, $2.177 million, page 2-160. Questions? Mr. Krutko.

Just a question in regard to the contribution assistance, that residence enhancement program. There’s been a major decrease in the funding for that program. Realizing the importance of the refocusing that was done where we used to have some 14 programs at one time, they basically scaled it down to four general programs. But yet for us to decrease the budget to almost $205 over $2 million, I think it’s going to have a major impact on those programs and services.

I think a lot of Members have stated earlier in their general comments that the housing conditions in the North are…. We do have a lot of aging housing. We do have a lot of retrofits that have to take place. And even as government we realize, going through this budgetary process, there’s a lot of major repairs that have to be done on the Housing Corporation’s stock. I think we also have to realize that this also affects the private sector and people who are into home ownership and also people that depend on government assistance for programs that we deliver by way of HELP, STEP and other programs that are out there.

So for myself, I’d just like to ask the Minister: exactly why is there such a major decrease, and why did you cut in this area, realizing that it will have a major effect on the communities, people in home ownership, and also for people that have homes that basically need some major repairs?

Mr. Polakoff.

Mr. Chair, after doing some research in regard to previous years’ expenditures in grants and contributions in this department…. For 2005–2006 activities they expended $4.975 million in regard to this same program. So that tells me there has been a need for this program. It’s almost $5 million some two and a half years ago, but yet now we’re down to $700,000. That’s a major decrease in a program where you can see from the actual expenditures that there has been intake by the people in the Northwest Territories for these types of programs. Also, for us to basically estimate a year ago, in regard to 2007–08, we’re looking at $2 million, but if you look at the actual, it’s $2.2 million. Again, Revised Estimates tell us that there is a need for this program.

So I’d like to ask the Minister: exactly how much money has been spent to date on promoting the new programs? We see it in the newspapers; we see handouts in the different brochures and whatnot. What’s the cost that we’ve been spending promoting these programs?

I think we also have to tell the general public that we’re promoting programs but we don’t have any real money to administer those programs by way of being able to have people access those programs through application.

How much money has been expended to date in regard to the promotion and the layout of these new programs?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. I’ll call on the Minister, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It’s approximately $40,000 for the cost, the layout and all the contract work for the design in getting the communication plan pulled together and rolled out.

If that’s all, Mr. Krutko, we’ll move on to Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you. Just more on the same topic.

Earlier I had indicated, in opening comments on the Housing Corporation budget, that I thought it was very important that the Housing Corporation focuses its attention on some seniors’ home ownership housing repairs. The care and the contributing assistance for residential enhancement is likely the area where these repairs would fit in.

I’m not sure. Unless the individuals are eligible for federal programs — CMHC repair program — then my assumption is that the majority of the money will come from this $742,000. I can say that even in a part of the one region, we could probably consume a lot of this money.

In Fort Resolution we’ve got 60 elders’ households, and in Lutselk’e we’ve got 25 elder households. The majority of them are home ownership units. The majority of them are units that were built with the assistance of the NWT Housing Corporation, which is great. However, now the units will start to slowly deteriorate. Unless we stop it now and put money into those programs, those seniors will lose their ability to maintain home ownership.

So I, too, am asking the question: why such a drastic cut? What was the reason or the logic, I suppose, for making them cut 50 in this area? Thank you.

Minister Miltenberger.

I’m assuming the Member’s asking the same line item: the contributing assistance for residential enhancement?

As the president indicated, there were choices made. There was, through the Affordable Housing Initiative and the focus on the capital side, full use put of all those resources.

We’re of the opinion that we can provide the services required, even though there is a drop. The ’07–08 bump-up from ’06–07…. We had a $1.080 million bump-up for repairs out of the AHI funding. That was one-time funding, and that’s now gone. So we made some decisions in terms of where could we afford to take some money and still meet our targets.

The issue of the seniors housing that Members raised before…. I’d just like to speak very quickly to the commitment to sit down once again with the Social Programs Committee to look at how these four program areas — consolidated down from 14 — are working. If there are issues about bundling the seniors component out of that, we can definitely talk about how we could do that. Thank you.