HOPEDALE, N.L. — The Nunatsiavut Government (NG) is saying it was completely taken off guard recently when the Torngat Regional Housing Association (TRHA) announced it was giving away the homes it oversaw to the tenants who lived in them.
According to a release from TRHA, the association decided to move forward with the action after receiving no direction from NG in the two years since the Inuit government announced it would be taking over housing with a new Nunatsiavut Housing Commission (NHC).
“TRHA decided, as a part of their closure plan, to disperse homes under our ownership to the individuals occupying these homes,” said a statement from Margaret Fox, chairperson of TRHA.
“This decision was made and carried out only after TRHA asked NG for input. NG has had nearly two years to communicate their preference to TRHA.”
Fox said TRHA made several attempts to engage NG and “to date, NG has not requested or suggested a course of action concerning these assets.”
TRHA, which is funded through NG, is responsible for about 300 homes in the Nunatsiavut land-claim area and is focused on housing for low-income families.
According to the TRHA, transferring ownership to individuals occupying these homes is in line with its mandate, and “it was deemed to be the fairest and most just decision.”
https://www.nunatsiavut.com/article/nunatsiavut-government-disappointed-in-trhas-decision-to-dispose-assets/
Posted by Nunatsiavut Government on Thursday, August 27, 2020
'Taken aback'
NG First Minister Tyler Edmunds told SaltWire it was really surprised to hear about this announcement and from their perspective, they were not consulted properly.
He said he was in a meeting with TRHA earlier in 2020 where the housing commission expressed concerns about the fate of the assets once the NHC came into effect.
“From what we understood during that meeting, (the TRHA was) very clear they believed there was no room for them once the NHC came online and they understood that NHC would absorb any assets that Torngat had.”
Initially, when NG announced the housing commission in 2019, it said they would cease funding to TRHA in 2021. Edmunds said THRA asked for funding for another construction year to have more time to work through the asset situation, which NG approved.
“They needed more time and frankly so did we,” he said.
NG extended the contribution agreement to give TRHA more time to go through the asset situation and potentially negotiate how those assets can be transferred to NG via the housing commission, he said.
The next big development Edmunds heard about was that the TRHA passed a motion to absolve tenants of all payments owing and transfer title to the occupants of the homes.
“For this decision to have been made, I’m taken aback. It does feel contrary to how we dealt with the contribution agreement,” he said.
He said the Inuit government has a lot of questions around how the decision was made and wants to sit down with TRHA to get answers to those questions and discuss how to move forward.
