Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you. I think I am good at this time.

Thank you, Madam Chair. My first question in regards to these 100 units is: how do you intend to ensure that the construction work done on these units is actually going to go to northern employers? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have created an arm's-length corporation to enable housing to be more flexible. My question for the housing Minister is: how will the Minister make sure that deep and transformative innovation are part of the everyday work of the Housing Corporation? Thank you.

I am always ready to have a conversation about housing, so I appreciate that. Is the Minister prepared to work with communities and Indigenous governments to re-examine the definition of core housing and develop metrics of success appropriate to the challenges that we face in the 21st century?

I appreciate the Minister's commitment to have the discussion. My next question is: do the long-range housing plans currently done by the Housing Corporation account for the changing demographics of an aging population in each community in the NWT, especially as it relates to women, women with children, people with disabilities, and elders?

This is a great beginning. We must work across all levels of government, all sectors and NGOs, to tell a new story of dwelling in this land. We need robust funded plans to achieve it, through integrated community land use stewardship, community renewable energy plans, housing and community wellness metrics, and reconciliation planning, with our whole social system engaged at the table, facing new issues in a new way. We need to start measuring what matters. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yellowknife housing is becoming ever less affordable. How will the Minister improve the affordability of housing in Yellowknife over the course of the 19th Legislative Assembly? Thank you.

I'm wondering if the current housing plans for the NWT Housing Corporation include the changing demographics of our population, particularly age, and also as it relates to women, women with children, people with disabilities, and elders?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. Long-range energy plans, community land use, and community wellness plans are completed independently, as are economic development and resource management strategies. Will the Minister commit to working with her colleagues to bring these planning exercises together and complete all communities within the 19th Legislative Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, for the last 40 years, Canadians have determined core housing needs based on adequacy, suitability, and affordability. Core housing refers to a national set of measures developed in collaboration with the United States. Based on core housing metrics, in 2019, over 50 percent of housing in small communities required major repairs; and in Yellowknife, our greatest challenge was affordability. One in three Yellowknifers are spending more than 30 percent of their household income on housing costs. Over 900 people are currently on the waitlist for public housing across the NWT.

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