Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to talk about the beauty of our smaller communities within the Northwest Territories. The smaller communities have a lot to offer in terms of knowledge, culture, respect, and the kindness of its residents. That is until one comes upon the abandoned buildings, an eyesore to the community that belongs to Housing NWT. These buildings are no longer inhabitable because they have no windows, no doors, the interior is beyond repair, while others are the remains of a fire.

Mr. Speaker, every community within the Northwest Territories tries to play its role in building the economy of the NWT. Tourism is the only resource that some of these communities have to depend on to be part of the economy. But when visitors come to these smaller communities and the first thing they see is one of these buildings, this gives a bad perception of our beautiful communities.

Mr. Speaker, do you know what is so ironic about this situation?

If one of these buildings belonged to one of the local residents of the community, they would be asked to remove the building. If the resident did not comply with the request, they would be charged property tax along with accumulated interest, yet the government can leave them there for years without being penalized.

Mr. Speaker, the communities within my riding of the Mackenzie Delta have to deal with this on a daily basis. Buildings are not only an eyesore to the community and its residents but also a hazard, especially to the younger children of the community.

Mr. Speaker, when we deal with serious circumstances regarding the safety of our communities, we tend to wait until an accident happens, then we act to address the situation. So before an accident happens, let's remove these government-owned buildings and make our communities beautiful again. I will have questions for the Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.