Katrina Nokleby

Thank you to President Young for giving me four more seconds so I can ask one more question there. So, yeah, I do really appreciate that. And actually what I'm hearing, I'm hoping, is that this is now transitioning to more of a wraparound client service or focused thing. So I think that is great and sounds like people have been listening to our side of the House.

So my last question has to do with the Habitat for Humanity line item. There is no money, no contribution. I have only heard good things about this program. I'm assuming we've just sunsetted our contribution. However, can the Minister...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm now looking at the homeownership initiative. It's my understanding that the GNWT or the department has halted intakes on this program until the summer and not due to a limit of funds but rather an inability to process all the applications that are coming in. I'm hearing often from constituents and people, particularly as I have a riding that has several apartment buildings but then also several single dwellings, you know, a lot of people are wanting to move between those two and are finding that they just have no options. The fact that they need to move super quickly...

Is that a yes then, it went to okay, I'll move on. I'll follow up with the Minister after.

I am just looking at the preventative maintenance program line item as well, and I do note that it has stayed the same from the revised estimates that's on the same page. Right now, so it's sitting at $1.244 million. When we've done some of our community tours under social development, we've seen units within the different places, and I'm thinking of Behchoko right now, where there's not an obvious reason to an outsider or an untrained eye why that unit isn't being fixed up and repurposed or having...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't also really have a lot of questions but I think I'd be remiss if I didn't comment a bit on some of the concerns I also have in echoing my colleagues.

Over the last few years, I've had an opportunity to become more familiar with people that are experiencing homelessness and in particular the youth. I don't think that anybody on the social development committee would argue that that sort of has been one of the reoccurring themes throughout all of the conversations, the engagement, the people that come to us, is this huge gap for youth and housing. Personally, I've...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was thrown off by having to repeat myself for question number two. You know, I really find it quite disturbing that the Minister of MACA is passing off the responsibility to advocate for funding for communities, to not only us on this side but to his colleague the Finance Minister. Can this Minister commit to finding money to address the funding gap of $40 million? If that has to be a supplementary appropriation, I'm sure that Members on this side would be in support of that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad the Minister reiterated my Member's statement, but I've asked the question whether or not the department has submitted any forced growth submissions and, if so, were they successful? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, communities in the NWT have been chronically underfunded for years. Every community in the Northwest Territories has been challenged to manage basic services like water, infrastructure, waste management, and community development while also providing critical services like emergency response, community recreation and sport and cultural activities.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT made a mandate commitment to reduce the funding gap by $5 million, and I acknowledge that the GNWT is on track to achieve this. However, Mr. Speaker $5 million does not go far enough. A 2019 report identified that...

Yeah, and I think that it's really one thing for the Minister to really keep in mind that if you do this piece now with these young people, you will reduce the number of people that are then homeless going forward in the future. So this is something where the return on investment here is so strong and so important and it's not just around housing; it's around mental health, physical health, all of that. So, again, just more of a comment but I do hope that the Minister recognizes that prevention is going to save us a lot more money than waiting for these kids to fall through the cracks. Thank...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I find that the Minister's comments to me are derogatory and offensive. It is not said with any sort of actual respect towards me on this side. I would ask that the Minister withdraw his remarks and apologize. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I'll have to follow up later on to find out what "stuff" is.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is predicting a $178 million operating surplus for 20232024. Can the Minister commit to allocating some of these federal resources to address the NWT community funding needs? We don't even have to go outside of our door very far to see people and the impacts of the underfunding of our communities. This morning I dropped off coats to people at the solid waste facility who are striking because their community can't afford to pay them properly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.