Lucy Kuptana

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is the Indigenous advocate or the housing advocate -- because we need to be an advocate for all people in the Northwest Territories -- is something that was identified in the Office of the Auditor General report, and I've asked Housing NWT to provide me a response and a plan moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I think the auditor general report, again, is a wake-up call, and I've committed to this call to action and moving forward, working with the local housing organizations and the district offices as well as headquarters to monitor and improve the housing conditions within community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. This question in her riding is a question in many other ridings because people want to be homeowners, they want to contribute to their household, and they want to stay in that community. So this is the conversation I'm having with housing, and I'm happy that the Office of the Auditor General raised this in their report because it provides us even more of an urgency to get this done. Homeownership program is going to have a fulsome review with Housing NWT and how we deliver that, and especially in small community, small and...

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Auditor General of Canada released its report on the performance audit of Northwest Territories Housing. The auditor general's findings outline several areas where Housing NWT must improve how we provide residents most in need with equitable access to housing and supports through the public housing and homeownership programs.

Housing NWT accepts all recommendations outlined in the report. This is not just another audit, Mr. Speaker, this is a call to action. I acknowledge that action is required to address deficiencies identified in the report and am committed to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that's a tough one. First of all, the local housing organizations have a community housing services agreement with Housing NWT so local housing organizations are the ones that manage the stock, the housing stock, at the local level, and many times they have, and probably all times, they have a residency requirement. So transferring from community to community when there's no housing within community to transfer to is a tough one. So there's many barriers. We can have a conversation, but I would leave this at the local housing organization level because we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, again, a really important conversation that we're having at Housing NWT is how we're supporting small community, how we're supporting people to remain in their community and to live within their community and providing those supports, and I do commit to working with Housing NWT to provide a good, solid review of the homeownership program and how we can deliver positive results. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the last year, Housing NWT has conducted a territorial housing needs assessment going into community to look at the quantitative portion but also the qualitative portion of housing units. We also follow the unit condition rating, and we do assess the market and public housing unit stock within community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the progress the Government of the Northwest Territories has made in addressing homelessness, and to acknowledge the ongoing needs ahead. We have taken important steps to remain committed to continuing this work with empathy, focus, and collaboration.

Homelessness is a complex issue that intersects with all areas of the 20th Legislative Assembly's priorities. It is influenced by the suitability, accessibility, and affordability of housing, a strong economic foundation, access to health care and addressing the effects of trauma and ensuring safe residents...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I don't have the information of how much will staff be paid through the operations of the transitional housing facility. I do know that shelters across the North, some are government run and some are run by NGOs. So some that are run by NGOs, like in Hay River for example, the wage could be a lot lower than the Government of Northwest Territories run facilities in Inuvik. We have two facilities in Inuvik. We have the warming shelter, and then we have the homeless shelter. So the homeless shelter and the warming shelter have been run by...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the transitional housing complex at the Folk on the Rocks site near the airport is -- had to go through a number of regulatory approvals and including Transport Canada working with the infrastructure team at Government of Northwest Territories, but also with NAV Canada because it's near the airport. And normally that process could take up to six months for approvals, and that approval through NAV Canada was approved today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.