Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The plan to transfer 1.6 million housing support dollars from the ECE’s Income Assistance program to the NWT Housing Corporation is a welcome action indeed. This action will begin to address the debilitating circumstances for long-term income assistance clients who must continually wrestle with Northern Properties’ policy barriers and ECE barriers that clients must try to jump over every month to get even delayed let alone timely housing assistance.

These barriers include a record of failed property maintenance, threats or attempts to evict, difficulties associated with shared apartments when one tenant leaves, and other problems ad infinitum. Income assistance clients have been left to struggle with these issues without effective government support, something which is clearly intended but not being delivered by income assistance.

With this transfer of housing dollars and clients to the NWT Housing Corporation, issues associated with 75 housing spaces for income support individuals and families in the market communities of Inuvik, Hay River and Yellowknife will quickly begin to be dealt with. The Housing Corporation will take over maintenance of the spaces and pay rent directly to the landlord, allowing tenants to pursue the priorities that will allow them to seek a better and more self-sufficient life. This will have a real and immediate impact on the quality of life for these clients.

The recent community housing survey showed that 60 percent of all NWT housing affordability issues are in Yellowknife and that the problem has worsened by an incredible 45 percent since 2009. This, while $1 million in the corporation’s Rent Supplement Program languished unspent, clearly failing to address the declining state of housing affordability in Yellowknife.

The transfer of ECE housing dollars to the Housing Corporation is another mechanism that can help, in this case, 55 tenants in Yellowknife. Yet, in

Yellowknife we have 1,055 families with housing affordability issues.

I do not know how many of these are long-term income assistance clients who could similarly benefit from the transfer of income assistance housing dollars to the Housing Corporation, but I assume such an analysis is being done. I suspect we need more of this, much more, and I will be expecting ECE and the Housing Corporation to report on this and respond appropriately.

One last comment. Not only does this move make imminent good sense, it very probably will save the government money, allowing more time and more to be done.

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted