Thank you. As of the implementation date, we are using the existing rent scales. However, it is our plan to review the whole rent scale and when the whole transfer is complete

April 1st of next year, then we’re looking at having

some changes that may be needed to the rent scale. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my Member’s statement was regarding the Mackenzie Valley Highway in between Tuk and Inuvik and right down to Wrigley. Mr. Speaker, due to the pipeline being delayed, I think this is a good go for it to keep our people busy in the region and up and down the Valley. So will the government lobby the federal government to show the serious commitment by elevating options such as the P3 leaseback arrangement, not just internally but to local government leadership, aboriginal groups and corporate leaders? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Transportation is always looking for unique ways to move forward on large infrastructure projects. This Mackenzie Valley Highway is no different and we’d certainly commit to moving forward with all the people involved and interested in seeing this as a project that would provide economic benefit to people in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you. Will the government devote lobbying resources and attention to the mega project of this size that it deserves, and will the government involve MLAs up and down the delta or in the valley, community leaders and corporate leaders to push forward the true form of an inclusive campaign group to head to Ottawa? Thank you.

We have put a lot of effort in moving this project forward. We’ve had many meetings with our federal counterparts regarding federal infrastructure, investment in our road. We all acknowledge that that’s a requirement and I will continue to work with all stakeholders and all partners in efforts to fund the construction of a project such as this. Thank you.

Thank you. Will the government commit to pushing the all-season road from Inuvik to Tuk with funding sources such as with the federal government? Thank you.

Thank you. That has been our challenge for many years to move forward on infrastructure in all the parts of the Territories. The road from Inuvik to Tuk has been pretty progressive, very progressive in terms of having the project description report done and submitted, and I

certainly will commit to doing the same for this section as we plan to involve all parcels and all projects for the whole Mackenzie Valley road forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government, in regard to the all-season road from Tuk to Inuvik, the federal government must see the potential, not the potential, but the resources there in the community and for a deep sea port for the Western Arctic, I think the Western Arctic, and my point has been left out. Everything that’s driven by the federal government that’s been given out to any sort of funding has been going to the Eastern Arctic. Mr. Speaker, we have to step up to the plate and get something done in regard to this highway. Not only the highway but for the pipeline and to get the federal government onside to push forward these initiatives. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. I’d like to reassure the Member that we have taken every opportunity from all Members of Cabinet, including the Premier, to bring our projects forward. We feel there is a lot of potential in the Northwest Territories. There have been meetings with federal officials, there have been meetings with the Ministers, there also have been meetings with the Prime Minister. They are aware of our projects and we will continue to lobby and to meet with them to put our positions forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of the NWT Housing Corporation. I want to ask the Minister what type of solutions the corporation will be looking at in decreasing the number of evictions in Deline and probably other communities in the Northwest Territories, but I wanted to ask about Deline in regard to the evictions.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct; there have been some eviction notices that were given out in Deline. Some of these tenants have gone through the rental officer. There were some conditions that were laid out. Most of these tenants did not meet the conditions of those. They didn’t meet the conditions so the eviction process was underway. Thank you.

Thank you. I want to ask the Minister about solutions. I know there’s probably going to be other eviction notices to residents in the Sahtu, in the Northwest Territories. Can the Housing Corporation work with the people in the communities to see if they could work out some arrangements so that these eviction notices are not hanging out in huge, large numbers?

Thank you. There are a lot of solutions that we can come up with. One of the first solutions is have all tenants pay their rent and for those that do fall into arrears, it’s not something that just happens on the spur of the moment. It’s usually a year-long process. They’re given many opportunities to address their arrears. They can speak to the boards, then they go to the rental officer and he’ll lay out some conditions. If they meet the terms of those conditions, then the termination won’t go ahead.

The trouble we have is a lot of times we get to the rental officer, he does put some conditions on, tenants do not meet them; therefore, they have to be terminate. But we do try to work with the tenants. There are repayment plans that they can enter into to help clear off their arrears and that’s a message that we as a Housing Corp are trying to get out there so the folks know that they can work out a repayment plan and continue to occupy their units. Thank you.

Thank you. I’ve been reading the latest NWT survey, the housing component. The result and the adequacy are unacceptable in terms of housing in the Northwest Territories. I think if you were to do that in Deline right now in terms of the survey, the adequacy percentage would go right up. I guess in terms of working out an arrangement with the Housing Corporation around eviction, you know, in our small communities unemployment is very, very high. There’s not very much economic activity happening there. Can the Minister look within his department to look at arrangements where tenants can work off these arrears rather than pay out of their pocket? Can that be looked at?

Thank you. That is one of the options that we looked at, one of the options that was discussed at the Ministers’ forum that I held recently attended by the Housing Corporation employees from across the NWT along with a couple of MLAs and there were a lot of ideas floating around. That was one of them. There is a liability issue, but it would be something I think that would have to be initiated by the LHOs and if everything falls in place as far as insurance and liability go, I think it’s something that they’d be willing to explore. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister work with the LHOs and the

corporation in terms of direct, maybe -- I’m not sure if that’s the proper word -- the LHOs to work out some final arrangements as to tenants working off the arrears rather than have the eviction notice follow through? People right now are living in shacks, warehouses and tents in Deline. We need to get them back into units, for safety reasons and many other reasons I do not want to elaborate on. Would the Minister do that as soon as possible?

The LHOs basically operate or are run by a board. We do have some involvement in the financing that we provide to them. The Minister doesn’t normally give direction or orders to the LHOs. We can raise concerns with them, but we’ll continue to try and do what we can as a corporation to help tenants across the Northwest Territories deal with the arrears issue.

We’re $10 million in public housing arrears right now and with the money from the federal government declining, it’s important more than ever to start collecting on some of these arrears. It is something that’s on our radar and something that we’re following up on and hoping to have some options that we can discuss with the committee.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.