DENINU KU'E/FORT RESOLUTION - The acting chief of Fort Resolution's Deninu Ku'e First Nation is upset with the GNWT for tearing down an empty house he believes could have been relocated and used by a family.

This GNWT house in Fort Resolution was recently torn down, although Deninu Ku'e First Nation Acting Chief Louis Balsillie thinks it could have made a home for a family. - photo courtesy of Louis Balsillie

"It was a perfectly normal, good house," said Louis Balsillie. "It just sickens me."

Balsillie said the government spent money on repairs to the house not that long ago.

"Now they paid a contractor to tear it down," he said, adding the work happened earlier this month.

The house - two combined double-wide trailers - had been in Fort Resolution since 1972 and used by teachers and other government workers.

"It's not a useless house," Balsillie said.

"In Fort Resolution, houses are difficult to come by."

In fact, he said the house was 10 times better than some housing in Fort Resolution.

The acting chief said he had already spoken with a band member about getting the house.

"I got his hopes up," Balsillie said. "I feel really bad about it now."

Stephen Pretty, a spokesperson for NWT Housing Corporation, said the house was torn down to make way for another unit that will eventually be built on the property.

"In this case, the community is not losing a unit, but getting a better one," he said.

Pretty said the cost of repairing the house was determined to be too high, estimating it would have been more than $100,000.

"Certainly, it would have been above the market value of the unit," he said.

Pretty said the house needed a new roof, insulation upgrades in the ceiling and walls, replacement or extensive repairs to the foundation, and plumbing work since pipes had frozen a number of times.

From the outside, the house appeared to be in better shape than it really was, he said, adding many of the problems were hidden.

The house was owned by government workers under an employee housing program until 2004, when it was bought back by the GNWT.

In the 2006-2007 school year, it was rented by a teacher, who reported astronomical heating costs of about $800 a month,

Pretty said. "It's been empty since then."

Repairs were made to the house in 2007, including a couple of new windows, siding and repairs to the furnace, at a cost of a little less than $20,000.

Pretty said a decision was made in 2008 to write off the house and dispose of it.

Earlier this year, there was an effort to sell the house for removal from the property, but there was no interest, he said.

The house was dismantled through tender at a cost of about $7,000.