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TETLIT'ZHEH/FORT MCPHERSON - Mackenzie-Delta MLA David Krutko is pushing for the GNWT to invest in a log home building initiative being designed by the Fort McPherson Indian Band.

"Long before two-by-fours and plywood was used to build homes, people built their homes using logs, from our grandparents to our parents," he said. "Yet for some reason we do not continue that practice and we are losing a very important skill."

During session at the legislative assembly on Feb. 23, Krutko said the Fort McPherson Indian Band is working with a log-home builder to develop a proposal to self-sufficiently build their own homes, using local wood products and workers.

"By using NWT wood products we can not only save on the transportation of goods and services, but more importantly develop one of our economies that has been overlooked for years," he said.

$50-million in federal funding for territorial housing is available and Krutko wants the minister responsible for the NWT housing corporation to provide money from that funding to help get this project underway. Minister Michael McLeod said the government is looking at new ways to deliver housing.

"Our preference is to see if we can look at how to find a relatively cheaper way to put houses on the ground in communities," McLeod said.

Stephen Pretty, manager of policy and communication for the NWT Housing Corporation, said a preliminary review is currently underway and all options are being considered, including log homes.

"There is a need in some communities for housing that would better allow people to pursue more traditional lifestyles," Pretty said. "We're looking at units that would be relatively modest in terms of amenities, things that would stand up to say, if someone was a trapper or hunter and wanted to leave it for a few weeks and it wouldn't freeze up.

"We've got a number of communities without public housing rentals so finding ways to house those folks is what we're looking at."

Pretty said there are challenges with building log homes. He said past programs that offered materials to people to build their own homes were not very successful.

"It's not the most energy efficient method of building houses," he said. "There are a lot more advantages of houses built with more modern materials in terms of efficiency. It's going to be the biggest challenge for us if we want to do this."

Pretty added another challenge that has come up with log building is insurance companies are becoming more and more reluctant to insure log houses and will only insure if they are built to high standards.

"It's going to be a huge issue for us," he said. "We're not going to set people up to fail by giving them home ownership units that they can't insure. We're reviewing it now, but it's going to be a big challenge."

Pretty said under the federal funding they will be required to meet certain federal regulations on home-building and this may make the option of log homes a difficult one to proceed with.

"We're also setting our own initiatives here in the NWT so that's going to be, at the end of the day, the major break if we use logs," he said. "Whether we can get it to a level of efficiency we are happy with.

It'll be one of the main considerations for us whether logs would be economically viable or whether it would meet the minimum level of energy efficiency."