Julie Green

This isn't an esoteric point. If we don't measure core housing need and determine which communities need which segments of core housing addressed, then we're going to jeopardize our federal funding. This is the baseline measure used across the country for determining core housing need, and so I appreciate the Minister's commitment to get back to me. I want to underline how important it is to have this proper statistical survey done next year. That was a comment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for recognizing me again. This time my questions are for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. In an exchange last week with my colleague from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, I was left somewhat confused about whether the every-five-year community housing survey would be completed in 2019. So my question is: will that community housing survey take place in 2019? Thank you.

The thing that I find difficult to understand is: what of those strengths will be left in a year from now? For sure, it's going to take a year. Things move very slowly in government, I've learned. So what will be left of the strengths of this program to preserve by the time the new person gets around to working on the social work program?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm quite frustrated with the responses from the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment about the social work program. Mr. Speaker, it was a political decision to cut that program based on the government's decision that we needed to have extensive budget cuts in the first two years of our mandate. On that basis, Aurora College was told to cut programs. They cut the social work program. Now, the Minister is not making a political decision to reinstate it. She's hiding behind the bureaucracy and saying that it's up to them to restore it. So my question...

I appreciate the Minister's willingness to work with the Y. At the end of the day, the Y is going to have to have revenue to keep this housing program going, and if that revenue can't be generated from a building, then it is going to need to come from a contribution agreement. I am asking the Minister what resources he can bring to the table for the continuation of this program.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services in his role as the lead on the Rockhill fire.

The Rockhill apartments belong to the GNWT, and they were leased to the YWCA over the long term. Rent collected from the tenants paid for the housing staff to provide wraparound services for the families. Now, not only is the building gone, but revenue from the building is gone as well.

My first question is whether the Minister is committed to this housing program continuation? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that the Y needs to make a specific ask, and my understanding is that the leadership group there is considering that and will be making that known to the Minister.

My final question is about the takeaway, the Minister's takeaway, from the government response. I realize that only just happened, but are they going to do a debrief? Are they going to look at how the response went from their position to strengthen service delivery in the future? Not that there were any problems with the response last week.

Could the Minister give us a sense of the options that are on the table? For example, does the GNWT have access to a building that could be leased to the Y, or is there access to bridge funding to help with the continuation of the housing staff services? What is the range of options the government is willing to consider?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday morning last week, I woke to the news that the Rockhill apartments were on fire. When I looked out my kitchen window, I could see the black smoke, and I feared for the lives of the families who called Rockhill home. For 20 years, the transitional housing program has helped hundreds of families rebuild their lives. It has become indispensable, and I worked there myself for six years. The good news is that all 87 people who lived at Rockhill escaped unharmed. The bad news of course is that the building was destroyed.

Mr. Speaker, since the fire, the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am in support of this motion. I was in support of it even before the debacle of the last motion on colocation, where the government demonstrated irrevocably that they are not interested in harm reduction. I will continue to argue in favour of harm reduction, and I believe that this motion presents that possibility.

The intent of this motion is not to make life difficult for the casual user. It is to try and prevent casual users from becoming chronic users. It is aimed at presenting a level of deterrents to stop youth from becoming chronic users. The casual...