Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, housing is a very, very big issue in my riding. Housing is a very big issue across the NWT. One of the things that I have talked a bit to the Minister about, recognizing that the Minister is currently gathering data, maybe to make good decisions moving forward on what is really needed in the communities.
What I think is really lacking in the NWT Housing Corporation is a good plan by per community. The NWT Housing Corporation at one time had quite a few programs. I think the number is like 18 or 14 programs comes to mind, and it was reduced in many of the programs and consolidated into a few programs. Those few programs are difficult for people who really need it to access.
One of the issues that I have in my riding is the requirement for insurance, fire insurance, that is, or else the corporation cannot spend any money on the people and on the homes. I have situations where there are elders who could use a fairly large project in order to get their house up to standard. The policies sort of run along the line that they need to have secure insurance. You secure the land; in order to get their land secured, they have quite a substantial tax bill, or quite a process to go through even to get a lease. We have situations where property becomes rental/lease. I have one situation and others that -- I don't know the exact number but one that I am currently dealing with, an elder had land tax/rent for $4,000 a year. We are talking about property that is a 1980 HAP house. These guys know what the HAP houses are, of course. 1980s HAP house. That is the first obstacle for this elder who actually makes about $1,000 a month. First obstacle is forking out $2,000 because he gets the tax release. That was two months' salary for the lease. The second obstacle is the fire insurance. That is a couple more months of salary because, if you have a community where there is no fire hydrant and there is only a small volunteer fire department, then the insurance puts some surcharges on.
If you go see an insurance company, on the face of it just say, how much is it to insure a house in Lutselk'e, as an example, the chances are they will probably say, there is no different than Yellowknife, until you get into the application process and find out there are no fire hydrants, there are only three firefighters. With all of those things, even a fire truck that does not function all the time.
I think that as the NWT Housing Corporation, the mandate should be to make sure that people are living in adequate and suitable accommodation. With the policies, I do not think that can happen. I do not think individuals can afford to pay the requirements in order to get their house fixed. It has become a program, I think, of who could afford. When you talk about the NWT Housing Corporation, and you talk about social housing and the history of NWT Housing Corporation, it is definitely designed to support the people who can afford to support themselves. It is not really designed to help people who cannot afford the help. What has happened now is that individuals cannot afford to get into housing programs because their incomes are too low, and their incomes exceed a certain amount, and they cannot get into a program because their incomes are too high.
That is something I think the NWT Housing Corporation has to look at very closely. One of the ways it was proposed that they create housing development plans per community to see what is on the ground, in what type of inventory that is in each community, and using that to develop some sort of a plan to be able to assist the people who need the help the most. That is the intent, I believe, of the social housing department or social housing organizations such as this, but it is not really meeting its intent. It just kind of misses that target group. I have an elder in a wheelchair who can't afford repairs. I wish I could get $3,000. That would get her through one year. We could never get anything substantial to fix her house right up so that she is sitting comfortably. That, I think, is something the corporation could look at. I find the biggest issue seems to be repairs, the repair to units. Those are the programs that people are having trouble accessing.
One thing I have harped about for a long time, since I have been in this Legislative Assembly, has been the Housing Corporation staff going to the homes of the people to sit down with the people in their homes and have a first-hand look at what is in there, with a couple of officers, maybe the programs person, one, maybe a technical person, two, to be able to go into the home and focus in on individuals who really need the help. It is very easy in the community to determine which people really need the help, and it is also very easy for me to say because I represent small communities. It may be a little more difficult to be able to do something like that in Yellowknife or in some of the regional centres. Certainly, in the small communities is where, as we have proven in the House many, many times, is where the poorest of the people live, and the NWT Housing Corporation is a program that is targeted at that group, targeted at that group but inaccessible by that group. Thank you, Mr. Chair.