Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when somebody or a department is doing something right or is improving the way we do business, we need to recognize this work.
In the past 15 years I've had a number of challenging issues regarding housing and, more particularly, arrears to deal with.
In addressing the arrears issues, the Minister and the Housing Corporation sent out an e-mail regarding the eviction process this past year. To me, the most important message in this e-mail was that the NWT Housing Corporation and its local housing authorities want to ensure that tenants stay in their homes. To successfully keep tenants in their rental units, they need to meet their obligations of paying rent on time, not building up arrears, taking care of the unit, and not disturbing their neighbours.
However, like most things in life, challenges pop up and people end up in arrears. This is an issue and can lead to a notice of eviction.
Mr. Speaker, I'm happy to say this is not the end. With the help of the Corporation and the Minister we have been able to set up repayment plans that work for the tenants.
Sometimes it is as simple as bringing in their income tax forms and the Housing Corporation does a recalculation and the arrears might be reduced.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister and the Corporation for their willingness to work with the residents of the NWT.
Mr. Speaker, I wish I could end my statement here and say everything is great with housing; however, like everything else in this world, things aren't always great.
In my budget address I wanted to share an issue with you about homes that did not have running water, power, and heat except for a wood stove. They also have sewer challenges. These people live in third-world conditions, and nothing is done because they live in private homes. They continue to try, but fail to get the government to put more funds into their homes for a number of reasons. The government needs to do a better job of addressing this issue of looking after our residents. Mr. Speaker, the Housing Corporation needs to look at this issue and start working on ways to help them.
Mr. Speaker, later on today I'll have questions for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.