Just say no

Tununiq MLA Joe Enook, backed by the Hamlet Council of Pond Inlet, wants the Nunavut Housing Corp. to finance an election promise with public money — by letting the MLA jump to the front of a long waiting list and rent a subsidized social housing unit.

This is a simple issue. It’s so simple it should never have been an “issue” in the first place. And it requires the simplest of all responses: no, Mr. Enook, your application is denied.

The housing corporation cannot give in to this request. To do so would result in an odious breach of the housing corporation’s own rules for allocating social housing. It would also break a commitment that the Government of Nunavut made in 2008 to the Auditor General of Canada.

The rules governing the allocation of public housing in Nunavut are clear. The basic principle, need, is determined by a point system. The rules that govern who is eligible to apply — based on income, age, residency — are equally clear. Every local housing organization in Nunavut signs an agreement in which they promise to follow these rules.

In May of 2008, the Auditor General of Canada, in an audit of the Nunavut Housing Corp., found this system in state of disarray. Local housing organizations weren’t following the rules on eligibility and allocation. At the same time, the housing corporation wasn’t doing enough to supervise them.

So in response, the housing corporation promised to fix the mess.

“Training and regular monitoring of the point-rating system should be conducted to determine adherence to the process.” That’s what the housing coporation said in response to the auditor general.

And that’s why the housing corporation cannot now say yes to Enook’s application for a public housing unit. It’s unlikely that he’s even eligible to apply for one. And even if he were eligible to apply, the allocation point system would likely put him at or near the bottom of a lengthy waiting list.

Enook justifies his demand by pointing to a letter of support the Pond Inlet hamlet council gave the local housing association.

The hamlet’s “support” is irrelevant. Social housing is a public good, financed with public money, a territorial social service created for the benefit of low income people. That’s why its allocation is guided by objective rules and not the arbitrary whims of elected bodies.

Enook also justifies his demand by pointing to a promise he made in the campaign leading up to the Sept. 12 by-election: that, if elected, he would move to Pond Inlet.

It may or may not be desireable for Enook to reside in Pond Inlet. But the MLA should not have made that promise without first ensuring he had the means to carry it out.

Also, there is no law or other rule requiring that a Nunavut MLA reside in any given community. Any eligible Nunavut voter is normally permitted to run in any electoral district and to represent that district in the legislative assembly, no matter where they live in Nunavut.

If Enook can’t find private accommodation in Pond Inlet, tough luck. In the mean-time, he’s free to rent whatever accommodation he can find in Iqaluit or any other community. And he is free to commute to Pond Inlet as required, using travel funds the legislative assembly makes available to MLAs for such purposes.

Enook points out that there are empty social housing units in Pond Inlet. But if that’s the case, those units should be allocated on the basis of need to eligible applicants, many of whom have likely waited years for housing.

Finally, Enook is likely not even eligible even to apply for public housing, based on his income.

As of March 31, 2011, the basic MLA indemnity — assembly jargon for “salary” — stood at $90,396 per year. Add a northern allowance payment of $22,214, and his annual gross income comes to at least $112,610.

Then add the standard GN housing allowance of $4,800, for which he is clearly eligible, plus a few thousand more for committee work and the normal incremental salary increases that kicked in during the 2011-12 fiscal year.

To be eligible for admittance public housing, applicants cannot, depending on the community, earn more than $80,000 to $94,500 a year. But Enook’s gross annual household income likely stands close to $120,000.

Public housing programs do not exist for the benefit of elected officials who are already paid annual sums of public money that stand in excess of $100,000 a year.

Besides, winning an election does not entitle any person to jump to the head of a queue in front of those who have waited years for the same entitlement. JB