Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, will support the motion to reduce the amount that is being charged at the maximum at 30 percent of the gross income for public housing, because I recognize that with about 30 percent going to taxes and the extra cost of employment and our desire to keep people employed. Of course, people who are not afraid to be employed because their rents would be too high. It’s an opportunity to bring that down a little bit at the upper end and I think that this is one part of the program that this side of the House is asking the government to tweak and bring 30 percent, previously addresses a flat 25 percent and now they graduated up to 30 percent. They should have probably graduated up to 25 percent and I think that’s what the MLAs from this side of the House are asking for.
At the upper end for public housing clients, I’m talking about people that are making four to five thousand dollars a month, that’s only an income of $48,000 to $60,000 a year and that is high for the communities. It may be low income for here, but at that rate, 5 percent of $5,000 allows the family to retain about $250 a month; $200 to $250 a month in incomes that range from $50,000 to $60,000. So especially the seasonal employees, guys that come in and they work in the summer, it would be good to give them that break because for the rest of the year they’re essentially on EI; although their rents are lowered then, they would not be impacted by this policy. This policy does impact people at the upper end that still are not making substantial amounts of money. Thank you.