Yellowknife (Mar 14/03) - From "bingo police," as Deh Cho MLA Michael McLeod joked, to "underground babysitters," said Yellowknife South MLA Brendan Bell -- harmonization has had members up in arms.

Now the plan is on hold until March 2004.

Harmonization is a plan to streamline public housing and income support programs.

The new plan would assess income more intensely so that bingo winnings, money earned from activities like craft sales, babysitting, and child support payments would be taken into account when it came time to make rent payments.

MLAs from communities small and large stood in the house and attacked the proposed plan with greater vigour as the weeks went on. They argued that seniors and single mothers were the ones who were going to suffer the most under the plan.

"Harmonization has taken all my time and energy," said Tu Nedhe MLA Steven Nitah, adding that we would've liked more time to talk about the Official Languages Act and recreation in small communities.

Harmonization would have affected the smaller non-tax based communities more than the large centres where there is less public housing.

But Yellowknife MLAs were equally dissatisfied with the legislation.

"I don't have any direct communication from my constituents," said Range Lake MLA Sandy Lee on Monday.

"But I have been privy to communication from single mothers in the city who are going to see their rent go up by hundreds of dollars."

The government does plan to go ahead with harmonization in 2004.

But the delay, said MLA Mackenzie Delta David Krutko, will ensure single parents, seniors and students "are not penalized by dramatic rent increases."