Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government loves to subsidize housing. The Housing Corporation provides social housing; ECE pays individuals' rents through the Income Assistance Program; and even the Department of Justice provides subsidized housing by forcing private landlords to house delinquent tenants for months on end.

Let me explain. Say a tenant falls into arrears for the month of January and an application to evict is filed with the rental office in February; there likely won't be a hearing for two or three months. If the tenant continues to skip out on rent during this time, there's nothing the landlord can do except sit idly by as potentially unrecoverable arrears grow and a revenue stream worth thousands runs dry.

Mr. Speaker, I understand we have to protect tenants' rights, but there are tenants who are aware of this and who work the system.

In the NWT, there is one company that controls around 85 per cent of the rental market. I'm not concerned about that company; it can absorb the costs. My concerns are for all the other landlords in the territory who contribute to their local economies, are trying to make a living or earn some extra income, or who count on a few rental properties for their retirement income.

In Hay River, it's tough to find a place to rent, and when you do, it's not cheap. A big part of the reason for that is it's hard to convince individuals or businesses to invest in constructing new apartments or rental units because everyone knows the hassles that landlords have to go through in the territory. The system doesn't just hurt landlords; it hinders growth of our economy. The lack of rental housing makes it extremely difficult to attract and retain employees that we need to address our labour gap and help grow the economy. It could also make all the difference for a family considering leaving town.

There are tweaks to the Residential Tenancies Act that can help remedy some of the problems, but the immediate issue is the understaffing of the rental office.

Two years ago, the office hired a deputy rental officer. That brought the total of officers up to two. Unfortunately, half the staff recently retired, and now we're back down to one. Nowadays, nearly half of all applications take over two months to be heard. Mr. Speaker, the rental office doesn't just deal with private landlords; it is also used by the Housing Corporation to collect arrears, and aggressive attempts by the corporation at collecting arrears have further disadvantaged small landlords.

I know the Minister is aware of this issue; I've discussed it with him before. I was assured that the rental office was taking steps to tackle its workload problem, and hopefully that means hiring another officer. I'll have questions for the Minister of Justice at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.