Feds could revisit funds for housing
Housing minister talks territorial needs on trip to Ottawa
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Friday, June 16, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The federal government has promised to consider the NWT for additional housing funding.
This comes after housing minister Caroline Cochrane stated earlier this month the NWT was "short-changed" on Northern housing dollars in the latest federal budget.
"They have promised that more money would be coming out for housing and they would consider us within that allocation of funding," she said.
Cochrane was in Ottawa on June 5 to discuss her concerns with Jean-Yves Duclos, the federal minister responsible for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
"I can't guarantee anything of course but I am hopeful that just providing the education, the information will make a difference," said Cochrane, who provided officials with statistics and information about the territory's geography, low population and social problems.
The funding issue was brought to light in the legislative assembly on May 31 when Yellowknife Centre MLA Julie Green asked why the NWT got the "short end of the stick" in the 2017 federal budget.
Announced in March, the budget promised a $300-million investment in Northern housing over the next 11 years, with $240 million going to Nunavut, $36 million going to the NWT and $24 million going to the Yukon.
Cochrane told Yellowknifer the $36 million will now be spent over 10 years, leaving just over $100,000 annually for each NWT community when divided between all 33 of them.
To this day, she said she is still a bit confused about how the federal government decided to divide the money between the three territories.
"I'm really ecstatic that Nunavut got $240 million," she said, adding the territory's housing needs are double those of the NWT. "But it was also important for us to go down and talk to the federal government and let them know that our issues are similar to Nunavut in that we have transportation issues, we have high costs, we have harsh climate."
Housing affordability, availability and mould remediation are also concerns for Mackenzie Delta MLA Frederick Blake Jr., who asked about these issues on June 1 in the legislative assembly. The minister said the federal government is aiming to have a national housing strategy together around the end of July.
"I'm very hopeful that the federal government understands the needs of the Northwest Territories and that they will when it comes time to allocate all of the housing monies, that they will consider us in light of the information that we provided," said Cochrane.
