Thank you for catching that. Yes, in fact, I am talking about the CARE Program.

Thank you, Ms. Green, and CARE is, of course, is Contributing Assistance for Repairs and Enhancements. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the Government of the Northwest Territories did actually acknowledge that seniors aging in place is a priority and so, therefore, we agreed to do the $500,000 increase to the SAFE Program on page 362. So we actually have an extra $500,000 that we are putting into assist seniors to age in place, so it's not that we're not working with you. Then again, like I say, we are expecting the federal government to come with substantial -- in fact, when Prime Minister Trudeau was in Yellowknife he said that there would be billions of dollars for housing provided, so we are expecting that we will get substantial monies coming. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Ms. Green.

Billions of dollars would be very welcome in all different dimensions of our territory, not only in homeownership. I appreciate that there is more money in SAFE in this Securing Assistance for Emergencies. The thing about CARE, though, is that we need the money now. The number of seniors is, as everybody knows, growing very rapidly, and that includes now, and so this is one of these areas where we really need the investment so that people don't advance down to the more expensive options in the continuum of care.

So I urge the Minister to consider an additional investment in the CARE Program. Those are all my comments. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Green. Would the Minister like to respond?

Thank you, Mr. Chair, yes. Currently, we have budgeted in our budget $4,410,000, and it's the same as it was for the last year. At this point in time, which we're almost at the end of the fiscal year, we only have expended about half of that money. So I don't know if the issue is that we need to put more money in or the issue is that we need to focus on a communication plan, that we actually have to let people know that it's out there. So I don't think it's appropriate to put more money into a program that is being under-utilized until we see if there is an actual need for it. That is, I take responsibility; we need to get word out better. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Next I have Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I'm just looking for a bit of clarification. I'm going to just indicate what I think PATH is going to try to do.

So when a public housing unit is determined for sale and the tenant in that public housing unit has an opportunity to buy it and the house is valued at $100,000 and the Corporation makes a decision to apply PATH, and the person is making under a certain amount so that the tenants get 48 per cent of the cost of the house, so one house worth $100,000 would be $48,000. I'm wondering if that $48,000 is budgeted or if it's just a reduction on what the corporation will receive?

Mr. Chairman, what I'm getting at is if, in that instance, where the house is valued at $100,000, the NWT Housing Corporation actually gain a capital amount of $52,000?

So the Minister said earlier that she was targeting 33 units; whether they're one in each community or not, the point, I guess, 33 units. So we're talking 33 units at an average cost of $100,000 a unit, with the application of PATH then there should be a fairly substantial chunk of capital coming back to the Housing Corporation over the year. I was wondering if that's the type of formula the corporation is using when they're determining the PATH budget? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. PATH is Providing Assistance for Territorial Homeownership Program. Minister Cochrane.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The current PATH Program actually does not put that money out to get mortgages that are outside, so they're actually units that are already within the capital of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. So it's not like there will be actually an increase of money coming because we already own the units. When I do the initiatives, it's more of rewarding good behaviour. So it won't be actually cash. Again, it would be looking at people's payments, have they been substantial, and there would be a host of other ways we would do it. The areas that we're looking at doing is like a rent-to-own idea so that people would still be paying but that money, that unit would actually be theirs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, so I just want to make sure I understand this clearly.

So the requirement for the individual tenant who is at a certain income level and is purchasing a public housing unit then will take over the operations of the public housing unit almost immediately at the point of sale. So $22,000 is no longer needed by the NWT Housing Corporation to put in to the LHOs because that's the operating cost of the unit, and, in addition to that, that tenant has a requirement to go to the bank and pay their portion. By "their portion" I mean the portion that's not applied as PATH, right, so again, at $100,000, $52,000 in capital.

So if that's not coming to the Housing Corporation, where is that capital? That that individual is walking down to the bank borrowing to buy that house, where's that capital going? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm a bit confused. I'm going to try to answer it if possible. So again, we're open to a lot of different areas so that we can look at home ownership. If the survey comes back and says that people want us to look at cash and carry to the bank, then we'll look at that, but at this point we aren't looking at doing a new program that addresses giving out mortgages. We are more looking at using the available stock that we have and turning those over into home ownership packages for people, people who have been constantly paying their rent, have been showing that they are responsible, that they do not wreck their units, that they have the abilities to maintain their unit. We are looking at transferring over our current stock to them and then we would be looking at like a rent-to-own.

So we have people who have been paying for 20 years in units. At some point, it should become their unit, and a lot of people say that. So hopefully with this new looking at it within 20 years, I mean, people will own their own unit. So what they are paying, it will be like a rent-to-own idea, and that is only one idea. Like I say, it is one of the ideas we have thrown out, but we are open to whatever comes in to the other surveys. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, just so I understand this clearly, there is no requirement for an individual buying a public housing unit to go to the bank to borrow their share, that their share can actually now be a rent-to-purchase, so the Housing Corporation will come along, say you are a good tenant; you paid rent for the last 20 years without missing rent payments. We are going to sell this house to you. First thing we are going to do is we are going to reduce the cost of the house by 48 per cent. The second thing we are going to do is we are going to take the 52 per cent and we are going to make you rent-to-own, so a portion of your rent payments will go to the purchase of that unit or, in other words, the 52 per cent. Is that correct? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Carpenter.

Thank you, Mr. Carpenter. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, that does clarify this, but I am going to just repeat it again. So we have got a $100,000 house, it gets 48 per cent off, so it is down to $52,000. The $25,000 incentive is added, and the individual has to go to the bank for the other $27,000 if the 52 per cent that is remaining in the cost of the public housing unit is more than $25,000. If it is less, then it is okay; if it is more, then the option is available for the individual to pay cash, like going to the bank, paying cash because he has got the cash. Or am I still hearing that rent-to-purchase is still a possibility for that small portion that may be left? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. You are making us all think tonight. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the current program, like Mr. Carpenter explained, may require going to the bank. When we do the program renewal, we will need to look at those. So we have the idea of what we are doing. We have not defined what it will look like specifically because there may be ideas coming within that, but we need to be cognizant that we need to be fair to all residents.

So if people have gone to the bank and taken out a loan to be able to pay for housing, then it would be not fair to just let other people not do anything. So I am not saying that this program would be looking at they have to go to the bank to get a mortgage, but I am saying that we might not give the discount that we give that we are doing currently if it is a rent-to-own versus paying it out and getting it now. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Beaulieu.