Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Since that was a fire safety issue raised by the occupants of the buildings, we have suggested that we look at alternate heating sources. From that, we have asked the person responsible for that to provide us with information. We were hoping to have that information provided to us this week. Unfortunately, we do not have it. If the president would like to add on to what I have already said, I would welcome him to speak to that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to speak to part of the question regarding the design. I believe in our community consultations, we spoke about lowering the units to a more accessible level for tenants. Again, the idea here is to go into the communities and discuss this with the community membership. That provides an opportunity for them to have input on how we deliver future seniors' housing. That is all encompassing to the prerequisites. I believe in the future we can build homes that are more satisfactory. From the standards side, Mr. Chairman, I would like to again call upon the president of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation to answer that.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will ask our president to answer, as it is a technical question. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I can certainly present the Member with the specifics to our community visits. In our travels, we spoke to a number of seniors, about 19 to date. And, yes, there were some noticeable design impairments as we assessed some of the homes.

Again, our future plans are to involve the local seniors to help us design what we feel is their need, not our need. Although we have spoken to them about remaining consistent with the Housing Corporation policies in terms of public and personal hygiene. That includes running water and sewage pumps.

There were some noticeable deficiencies again in the heights of the buildings. We confirm that. We are trying to involve the community leadership in the overall planning, design and construction of the units. We feel there was some concern from community members that they needed to be independent and have individual homes. We have raised that with the president of the corporation in follow up meetings.

There is a whole range of new ideas, a whole range of new approaches we have discussed initially with Cabinet in trying to address all those concerns the Member has expressed. I would like to ask the president if he has anything to add to my comments. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In my opening remarks, I stated that the housing needs survey will be tabled later in this sitting. I would ask the present Housing Corporation to answer any questions specific to any details the Members may have. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To my immediate right is Mr. Jeff Anderson, our chief financial officer. To my immediate left is the president of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, Mr. Tom Beaulieu.

Yes I will Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to present to the Legislative Assembly, the 2000-2001 Interim Appropriation for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Mr. Chairman, as you know, and Members of this House are aware, two of the most basic needs are food and shelter. It is the second basic need that the Housing Corporation works to provide.

The corporation is requesting a contribution from this government of $17,886,000; $9,789,000 for capital programs and $8,097,000 for operations and maintenance. The capital of $9,789,000 constitutes 45 percent of the 2000-2001 main estimates. It is normal for the corporation to spend almost half of its capital budget within the first four months because the majority of the building materials are transported during that time.

The operations and maintenance total of $8,097,000 is 37 percent of the 2000-2001 main estimates plus forced growth of $113,000 due to pension reform.

Over 90 percent of the operations and maintenance capital being requested will ultimately be spent on projects that will be community based.

Mr. Chairman, the corporation is at the final stage of the 2000 housing needs survey, which I expect to table later this sitting. The corporation will be using the needs survey as one of its key documents in developing a strategic plan to decrease housing needs in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Chairman, the corporation is at the beginning stages of developing new goals and strategies that better incorporate community input. The president and I have traveled to many communities to see first hand what the housing problems are. We will continue to travel until all communities have been visited by either Mr. Beaulieu or myself to seek their input in addressing their housing needs. We have already begun discussions with several communities on ways that we can work together as partners in developing a strategy to address housing needs at the community level.

Mr. Chairman, the corporation will continue with its provincial and territorial counterparts to lobby the federal government to at least maintain the current federal funding provided by the federal government.

Mr. Chairman, the corporation plans to work with the communities and other government departments to ensure that the money spent first addresses housing needs and secondly, creates some positive economic impacts for the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my comments and we will be pleased to answer any questions the House may have. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In reference to the Member's question, and again, I go back to our presentation to the Standing Committee on Social Programs, we did communicate with the local development corporations. There is some initiative to work with them. There is a plan for perhaps some leaseback arrangements. We will continue to consult with the committee leadership to further that interest. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.