Thank you, Mr. Chair. [English translation not provided.] I just wanted to provide some comments, but I think my colleague indicated the obvious, that this is a big department and it is fairly contentious because you are basically dealing with people's castles, if they have access to them, at the community level. It is a very difficult portfolio, and I applaud the Minister for leading the way to this point. You know, we look forward to the continued working relationship at this level but, most importantly, at the community level. Just some comments I wanted to make: as I said, housing is a big issue in my riding. People want and desire their own homes. How can we get people to own their own homes? The common is that you get a job if the economy is good, and then you can mortgage your own home with the support of your bank, and buy your own home. If you're in the NWT, we have fairly limited industrial and resource development, and some parts of the NWT that are far out of reach for small communities. Therefore, people rely on government to provide housing.
There are some things that I wanted to note that, again, we did pass a motion back in June in terms of the core needs, in terms of ensuring that we provide programs and services to people in the NWT. I think at that point it was noted that there is a need in non-market communities of 32 per cent, and that it continues.
We are dealing with an aging infrastructure of people who had brand new houses perhaps 30 years ago are now at a point where the houses need to be repaired or replaced, or else in some instances, demolished.
It could be an opportunity for local governments to become involved in terms of how it could become, possibly, if they are going to refurbish or renovate or make improvements to housing, then the opportunity is maybe to bridge an alliance with local governments to ensure that local resources are used to the max.
The other point I wanted to make is on the homelessness issue. People make sincere efforts in terms of the people who I work with at the community level, and there is a recognition that we wanted to do something in terms of addressing the homelessness issue. There are people who are couch surfing, and do not have a place to stay. Out of the compassion of our hearts, we moved to ensure that we had an organized body to try to work with the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. We saw other communities get priority in terms of pilot projects, in terms of piloting the need to address homelessness issues. On the part of the local body, there was some conceptualization of at least how units could be constructed, perhaps bringing other departments such as Health and Social Services in terms of almost bringing a person into the home, but also bridging other services that they could access in terms of getting a strong footing in the community to own their own homes.
Another point is, I applaud the progressiveness of working with First Nations people. We are directly transferring the resources and agreements of First Nations people, and that's commendable, but I wonder if that is predicated on Aboriginal governments having to have a land claim first, and if that is the case.
Just another point that I wanted to highlight is, as I said, home ownership, ultimately, is what we try to strive for, but it is a challenge. The opposite side of home ownership is public rental, and that is pretty common in our communities. You have to rent out with the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, and in that instance, it is local housing organization that we have to work with.
Those are just some things I feel have been very common in terms of concerns and issues that profile the riding that I serve, and I look forward to the continued working relationship with this Minister and the department to ensure that everyone has homes. Mahsi.