Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about a very common problem, that people facing evictions from public housing.

Recently I received a telephone call from one of my constituents who said she was facing eviction over $1,500 in arrears. The only money this person receives is through the income support program.

Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Government of the Northwest Territories has different programs in place to help with these types of problems, like the homelessness assistance fund. More concerning is that some people have children and the eviction from their homes creates a child protection concern that the Department of Health and Social Services ends up dealing with.

Mr. Speaker, I have been thinking about this situation. I have heard the Minister acknowledge public housing units are social housing. I thought about it, and I do not understand then why are we charging rent to low income families in social housing in the first place?

Mr. Speaker, Housing NWT skips the bill that another department pays, like the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. So why are we paying GNWT bills with GNWT money? When the person does not agree to have it deducted from income support, they fall behind, and we end up dealing with it anyways.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to know how much time the GNWT spends collecting housing arrears and how much it cost to keep track of all these internal billings. It represents many hours of staff time, not to mention the hours of time spent trying to collect $1,500 and legal costs and shares costs in doing these evictions. Mr. Speaker, can I have unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Mr. Speaker, in this case, I am sure GNWT has thousands and thousands of dollars invested in collecting $1,500. And if the eviction goes forward, there is a good chance this becomes a child protection matter that will cost Government of the Northwest Territories even more money. Mr. Speaker, I will have question for the Minister of Housing at appropriate time. Thank you.