Grouard family anxious Structural defects examined

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A Native family here is anxiously awaiting the arrival of an engineer to examine structural defects in the home they were evicted from last month because they failed to make mortgage payments.

The Gardiners, now living in a government trailer, had been living in a tent for six days following their eviction.

An engineer will be sent into the tiny community located 350 km northwest of Edmonton to evaluate the repairs needed to the house, said Hal O'Neil, manager of communications with Rural and Native Housing.

"I gather the whole house in its entirety (will be examined)," explained O'Neil in a telephone interview from his Edmonton office.

Louise Gardiner maintains she will not negotiate the payment of mortgage arrears, close to $6,800, until the house is fixed to her satisfaction.

"I'm not asking for a band-aid job," she stated.

The Gardiners had been withholding mortgage payments for the past 20 months, claiming that Alberta Mortgage and Housing Corp. (AMHC) failed to repair problems with the house which caused the basement to flood and the sewer to back up.

AMHC officials say the family will have to set up a repayment schedule in order to get their house and land back.

The family bought the house nine years ago and are one of 26 families who purchased stack-wall houses built under a Native housing program ten years ago.