Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all recognize that one of the biggest barriers to NWT housing is the lack of market. Home insurance, land tenure, and complicated home ownership schemes mean that it is hard for people to own their own homes. In many communities, a house is not an investment, but a liability. Mr. Speaker, one of the things we must do to build more market housing and to get more people into home ownership is increase the use of fee simple tenure. A great place to start with this, Mr. Speaker, is the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation owning their housing units.
In fact, Mr. Speaker, this is something that they have been trying to do for a number of years. Yet, presently, the Department of Lands makes it very difficult for the Housing Corporation to own their own buildings in fee simple. If we want to be successful in promoting home ownership and in transferring units to people to actually own their houses, then we need to transfer all of the Housing Corporation's leases to them in fee simple title. Fee simple title is the foundation of any housing market. It allows people to get mortgages. It is the strongest property interest that any bank will support.
Mr. Speaker, we have a long history of a love of leases in the Northwest Territories. I get this is complicated, and it gets caught up in land tenure and land ownership debates. II want to give people their houses in fee simple. I want to give our residents their houses in fee simple, and the best place to start is with the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation allowing them to own their own units. I will have questions for the Minister of Lands about why we have not done this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.