In a press conference, NWT Premier Caroline Cochrane met with NDP leader Jagmeet Singh to discuss a variety of topics surrounding northern life.
Among the topics discussed, the discussion surrounding housing and cost of living continued to be brought up throughout the meeting.
“The rents are rising in a way that is just not sustainable, people are paying more and more for their rent and their income does not match,” Singh tells MyTrueNorthNow.
“Because people are so desperate, land lords are saying they’re not worried about maintaining the right conditions because if you leave there’s going to be a hundred other people lined up to take the spot.”
“What we know is a major problem across the country, not just in the territories is that the rate of loss of affordable homes, versus what’s being built is a losing battle,” Singh adds.
Singh and the federal NDP announced in May 2023, they are interested in creating an affordable housing fund to pull properties out of corporations and into the hands of community groups and co-operative housing non-profits.
“What we’re proposing is an acquisition fund, which would allow for a community group, a not-for-profit-group, a co-operative, to be set up, and allow for community groups to purchase those buildings and keep them affordable, take them out of the hands of someone trying to make a profit and put it into the hands of the community that wants housing to be there for someone to have a home.”
“It shouldn’t be on people in the Territory to have to deal with only one major company that’s not doing its job to maintain properties,” the NDP leader adds.
Singh is set to continue the discussion in Yellowknife as part of his tour through the territory on July 26th at noon.
