Mr. Speaker, this has been a discussion that has been going on for a number of years. Seniors have been very fortunate in the past where they have had to pay no rent. It is still costing the Housing Corporation an average $16,000 to $24,000 a year to maintain these units. The thinking behind it is during the engagement process there were a lot of seniors that had
expressed a willingness and they don’t mind paying their fair share. There are some that were reluctant to phone for maintenance services because they don’t pay any rent. Some of this was brought on by the seniors themselves. The fact is that, with everything going on and declining funding and everything, it is just not sustainable anymore to be doing this. Our population is aging. We are looking at probably double or triple the amount of seniors by the time the federal funding expires. It is something that is just not sustainable anymore for the NWT Housing Corporation. Thank you.