Resolution cites rent disparities of hundreds of dollars monthly

Clyde River campaigns for breaks for working tenants

By CHRIS WINDEYER

Clyde River's housing association wants changes to the way the Nunavut Housing Corp. charges rent.

A resolution passed late last month alleges that the rent scale the housing corporation uses to charge its tenants is unfair, confusing and out of line with other public housing agencies.

Levi Palituq, the man who moved the resolution, said it's unfair that people on income support can pay less than $100 in monthly rent while working people pay hundreds of dollars more. Some elders, Palituq said, pay no rent at all.

"Working people, like myself and my wife, we're paying maximum rent, which is over $2,000 a month," he said. Neighbours who live in an identical house, with two bathrooms and four bedrooms, pay $60 a month, he added.

Palituq said he wants people to start talking about the housing corporation's rent scale and demand changes.

But he said neighbours who pay low rents "don't give a you-know-what" about the issue, and elders are also keeping quiet.

Palituq works as an outfitter for five months a year, while his wife works as a teacher. He said the housing corporation should adopt a uniform rent scale, of somewhere between $200 and $300 per month. Palituq said it's also unfair that rent is calculated based on the previous year's income.

Peter Scott, the housing corporation's president, acknowledges the rent scale is complicated, but said it's based on household take-home income.

According to the Nuna­vut Housing Corporation's web site, rents range from 10 per cent of net income to 28 per cent. There are also partial exemptions available for youth and students.

Scott also said most elders do live rent-free, but elders who make more than a certain amount are charged. In Clyde River, that threshold, based on the local cost of living, is around $100,000 and there's no elder in the community who earns that much, he said.

Palituq said he's refused to sign a form verifying his income as all public housing tenants must do, even though it means he has to pay the maximum rent.

"I haven't signed it and I'm not going to sign it because I don't think it's fair," he said. Instead, he's considering filing a complaint with the Nunavut Human Rights Tribunal if changes aren't made to the rent scale.

Scott said Hunter Tootoo, the housing minister, has issued a written response to the association. Tootoo didn't respond to requests for an interview.

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