N.W.T. MLA who owes more than $100K to Housing Corporation says he is trying to pay it off
Richard Edjericon has hired a lawyer to settle the matter on his behalf
The newly elected MLA for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh, Richard Edjericon, owes the N.W.T. Housing Corporation $113,000 for a defaulted mortgage, but says he's approached the housing corporation about paying it off without any response.
The mortgage was initially with CIBC back in 1998 for $140,561.82. In April 2010, an assignment of judgment was executed, in which CIBC assigned the right to collect the debt to the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Court documents from December 2019 show that Edjericon still owes $113,852.24.
Edjericon said he contacted the N.W.T. Housing Corporation in December and offered to pay off the mortgage in full. Between Dec. 2 and Dec. 8, 2021, Edjericon said he tried to contact the corporation's president three times — by email, written letter and in person — but received no response.
CBC News contacted the N.W.T. Housing Corporation's president and CEO Eleanor Young, and the housing corporation, but has yet to hear back.
Edjericon told CBC News that he took out the mortgage with his late ex-wife. The two divorced but remained on the mortgage together. No payments have been made since 2017.
"Well, the thing is that's about the time that I got divorced. It's a personal thing … so, I can't really talk about that," Edjericon said. "It's a personal family matter."
His wife died in 2019 and Edjericon said he made her a promise to pay off the mortgage before she died.
"Before she died I sat here. Those were the things she wanted taken care of so I said sure," he said.
Debt not a conflict: integrity commissioner
Edjericon said he has now hired a lawyer to try and settle the matter.
He said that right after he was elected, he contacted the N.W.T. integrity commissioner, David Jones, and made him aware of the debt. Jones told Edjericon that the debt did not create a conflict in him being an MLA
"Mr. Edjericon advised that, rather than dealing any more with the matter himself, he would have his lawyer deal with the matter with the Housing Corporation, which is an appropriate way to proceed," Jones told the CBC in an email.
In a press release sent to the CBC, Edjericon says he is eager to "clarify the facts so as not to mislead the public or [his] constituents, but also to put an end to misinformation and political weaponization."
When asked what he meant by "political weaponization," Edjericon declined to comment.
"I just want to say that, you know, it's unfortunate that we're here. But at the end of the day, you know, we got bigger issues out there that we need to worry about," he said.
"In the Legislative Assembly we need to work together to address our issues and that's what I'm going to be focusing on, to address those issues on behalf of our constituencies."