This is page numbers 5993 - 6030 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was work.

Topics

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

I think it comes to the responsibility of all parties involved. I know the Member asked me questions in an earlier session, and I did say the responsibility also falls on the municipalities and the hamlets. We need all leadership. We need the NGOs as well as ourselves as a government providing this kind of funding to work together to see how we can find that type of funding to address the issue. If anything, I will commit to the Member that we will have those discussions.

I think it is something that the next government coming in in the 19th Assembly is going to be something that needs to be talked about because, like I said, our NGOs across the Northwest Territories do invaluable service and they do a lot of really good work right across the territory. We will make that recommendation, but at this moment I can't commit to any ongoing continued funding or core funding, but that discussion needs to be still had. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of Finance made a statement on the Property Tax Arrears program earlier today, and I thank the Minister for this statement. This has been a big issue for the community of Fort Liard, and I have spoken with the Minister a number of times on this issue. Can the Minister provide any further details on this program, besides what he has already said in his Minister's statement? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Finance.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I noted before, the Property Tax Arrears program is designed to provide a path for residents to address the outstanding arrears. Residents can enter into a repayment plan for the outstanding property taxes, and the interest that has been building up will be forgiven; or, in other words, the resident will not have to pay the interest portion. Residents, we have to be quite clear, have to stay current on their payment plan on future property taxes to stay eligible for the program.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

This is great news moving forward. Can the Minister provide some details on how some residents, especially those who live in Fort Liard, how they can apply for this new program?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

We are sending letters to all clients with arrears, and we will provide them with details on applying for the program. We are also doing a communication effort in communities in the general taxation area, and we are working with our GSOs, and they have been trained to help residents apply for the program, as well.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

That is good to hear, and I hope the Minister will actually reach out to us MLAs, too, and get that information out to us. Will the Minister's department be working with residents as part of this program to establish an affordable payment program, and how does it have an impact on people who have already entered into a payment program?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

The quick answer is yes, when a resident applies, we will work with the client to come up with an affordable monthly payment plan, and, if there are some that have entered into repayment plans already, we would expect them to honour it, and this program would apply to them, as well.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this point in time, I would like to thank the Minister for this information. My final question is: we have been considering the standard interest rate act in this session; how does this legislation relate to this new program?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

These initiatives, they are related. The Property Tax Arrears program will help residents that have built up appears in the past. It is a time-limited program, however, to deal with these circumstances. Going forward, the standard interest rate establishes a more reasonable interest rate on any outstanding amounts owed to the GNWT in property taxes. These two initiatives taken together should help address the historic problem we have had with property tax arrears. That said, though, residents will have to pay their property taxes, and, if they do not, the arrears will start to grow again over time. With the other piece of legislation that we were dealing with, we had varying interest rates across the programs in the Northwest Territories. I think we had some as high as 18 percent. We are starting to standardize all of those, so I think it will do well for the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Question 804-18(3): Housing Core Need
Oral Questions

August 14th, 2019

Page 6004

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Monday I made a Member's statement on the Housing Corporation, the core need housing programs, and so on. I have questions more specifically towards the core need of the social housing in the Northwest Territories. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation when the new needs survey for determining the core need numbers across the NWT will be released. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the Member did make his statement, I was waiting for some questions earlier this week. I want to let the Member know and all Members that have an interest in housing, which is every Member in this building, that the NWT Bureau of Statistics has been conducting the 2019 core needs survey, and it should be ready for release in November of this year. In the past, I have given updates in how we are addressing the core need with various programs. Looking at the target of 250 per year, I can share with committee and I can share with Members that I believe we are exceeding that, and we can show how we are doing that through the various programs that we are conducting.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Often, individuals who have perfectly good housing units, suitable and adequate units, because they have an affordability issue identify as being in core need for housing, so I would like to ask the Minister if he could give the House a definition of "core need."

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

The Member and I had a discussion around this, and, you know, it can be a little bit complex in terms of what core need is. However, the definition of "core need" is a federal standard, and it is used by all jurisdictions right across Canada. The core needs survey does allow us to look at the number of households affected by each area, and, while the definition of "core need" includes affordability, the majority of our program is used to address adequacy as well as suitability, and that was the exact conversation that I had with the Member earlier today. That is something that needs to be addressed more, not only within the territorial government, but I think it's something that needs to have a bigger discussion with the federal government and our municipal leadership or territorial leadership.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

I would like to ask the Minister if the Minister feels that people who currently reside in public housing are in core need.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

As I just previously said, we have a target of addressing 250 households every year, and we work with our local housing organizations to address any inadequacies, whether there are repairs, maintenance, as well as suitability and any issues that do come up. I know because I get those questions from Members almost on a daily basis. At this point, I think we are addressing the affordability, adequacy, and suitability problem. Being in the Legislative Assembly for the last two terms, the last eight years, I think we have made a very big impact on addressing core needs across the Northwest Territories, and that is not just me. It's the previous Ministers responsible for housing as well as getting questions from Members to address this. So, at this point, I want to say that I do believe that we are doing the best job that we can and we are addressing that issue.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The reason that I asked the last question is because public housing takes people out of core need. I suppose that is what public housing is all about. Individuals that can't afford adequate and suitable housing end up in public housing. We have 2,400 public housing units, I understand, across the territory. I just wanted to get an answer for the House from the Minister to see if the Housing Corporation considers the 2,400 families that are in public housing in core need currently. Thank you.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

I had the opportunity to attend a conference in Victoria earlier this year. In our agreement with the federal government, we were committed to providing public housing units for our jurisdiction. I think it is about just over 1,300. We go above and beyond, and I made sure that everybody at the conference knew that we provide the 2,400, and we also look at market rent and other projects that we do.

We do have a number of programs that are going to address this need. For seniors, for singles, I made some comments the other day about the fuel tank replacement issues; Rapid Rehousing, our community housing support initiative; over the last three, four years, we have seen some very successful programs working with Indigenous governments and local governments, as well; we do have a new home program, which will address suitable housing concerns; and our community housing plans, as I mentioned earlier in my Minister's statement.

We need to work with local leadership and stakeholders to address what their priorities are and how we address the core housing need. I think that that is something that we will continue to focus on, work on, and I appreciate that all Members of the 19th Assembly bring that forward so that we can work with families and communities to address this issue.

We have been doing things. Like I said, being in the Assembly for eight years, two terms, right from day one, we have been seeing some changes, policies, and programs. We will continue to support them and also lobby our federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.

Daniel McNeely

Daniel McNeely Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my Member's statements on housing, my questions are for the Minister of Housing. We are now more than three months after the Northern Housing Summit in Inuvik. Can the Minister talk about what came out of the summit and what next steps might be? Mahsi.