Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 16/99) - Though no new social housing units have been built in the Northwest Territories since 1992, there is hope for those who need housing and cannot afford market rent.

Or so Finance Minister Charles Dent told the legislature in its last sitting.

"In communities where staff housing is declared to be surplus, if it is not to be sold, it is to be offered to the Housing Corp. to be used for public housing if needed," Dent said, outlining the process to convert buildings to social housing.

The only new housing, he said, is usually supported by home ownership programs and is built through applications from people and not allocations from government.

Dent's remarks apparently touched a nerve with Yellowknife North MLA Roy Erasmus, who asked how many social housing units have been allocated to each community since 1992 and whether the converted staff housing units were added to the allocation or not.

"What I am disagreeing with is the way these communities are getting an extra four and five units after the fact and not going according to the formula that is supposed to be used," Erasmus said.

Mackenzie Delta MLA, David Krutko, shared Erasmus' concerns and said he knows of government housing units in Aklavik and Fort McPherson that could be transferred to social housing because they have not been sold yet and they are still being heated by the government.

Dent admitted that there are about 30 units in which sales are pending.

"If we are unable to sell those units, they will certainly, in the not too distant future, be considered for transfer to the social housing arena," Dent said.

Also in the last sitting of the legislature, Krutko tabled a letter from Tsiigehtchic noting overcrowding and how some people are having to leave because there are no housing units available.