No room for emergency list in housing

by Stewart Burnett Northern News Services Rankin Inlet

There are several names on the Rankin Inlet Housing Association’s list for emergency needs, but no units to place those people in.

That’s according to an email from Jean Conrad, secretary-manager of the housing association, to Rankin Inlet council that was part of the council’s Feb. 28 briefing package.

“It is very unfortunate, but in some cases, these tenants and their families remain homeless until housing becomes available,” stated Conrad, adding that those on the emergency list, depending on the nature of their emergency, are considered for housing before people on the top of the waiting list- some of whom have been waiting more than a decade for a unit.

Conrad was replying to a request for information from hamlet council.

She stated in her email that the housing association currently has more than 320 names on its waiting list for housing. Tenants move up the waiting list by earning points: one point for each month of waiting and five points for a medical letter stating their need for housing.

“Unfortunately, our housing stock is aging and some is no longer inhabitable, which lowers the opportunity for our waiting list applicants to advance,” wrote Conrad. “Some have been on the list for over 10-plus years. We do receive new units annually (usually), which helps a bit. As we are all aware, there is just not enough housing to meet demand.”

She addressed the subject of where tenants can go following a fire. Conrad said Rankin Inlet sees the most public housing fires of any community in the Kivalliq, and “there may or may not be a correlation to the amount of alcohol consumed within the community.”

The Nunavut Housing Corporation does not have a formal policy on tenants displaced by fires, stated Conrad.

“Rankin Inlet continues to follow the procedure whereby tenants have to reapply and thus it is at the board’s discretion whether to assign them another unit or not,” wrote Conrad. “Tenants who encounter a situation where their unit is inhabitable are then competing with other applicants for public housing.”

Whether a tenant is placed on the emergency list is a determination made by the board and each case is taken individually. Conrad said there have been at least four unit fires that displaced tenants in the past few years.