Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs.
So following challenges around the encampment last summer in the middle of the city of Yellowknife, I know that the GNWT has been working hard throughout the winter to establish better relationships with shelter providers to get to know members of the unhoused population and their specific needs and to get new transitional housing initiatives off the ground. However, it's unclear whether there was any specific planning around what to do about any future encampments, and now we have new encampments at locations popping up within the city of Yellowknife.
And so I understand that the average occupancy rate at Yellowknife shelters has been only 87 percent since last October, but was the GNWT operating on the assumption that given adequate shelter space, there would be no encampments to deal with in the city this summer? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the Member's correct, we did take a number of steps to ensure there were enough shelter beds, and so that was funding NGOs to increase the number of shelter beds. We had the on the land transitional housing program running for a couple months in the winter. We hoped to already have a transitional housing setup for this summer but it's been delayed a little bit. So between the shelter space increase and the transitional housing increase, we were hoping to be able to address any shortfall that we have in spaces, beds. That being said, people are going to do what they're going to do, and some people would rather stay in a tent and they are going to set up that tent and stay in there even if there are beds available. So I was never under the impression that we would have no encampments ever again in the territory even if we had all of the adequate space that we needed. So I would say the assumption was not that there would be no encampments. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister for that answer. So now that we have better awareness that encampments are not necessarily related to a shortage of shelter space per se, but perhaps shortages in the broader housing continuum or people's preference for how they want to live, is the GNWT preparing to do some longer term planning around identifying some specific suitable space for an encampment in consultation with neighbours? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, as I mentioned yesterday, understanding that even with adequate space there will be encampments, we want to ensure that where those encampments might set up are places that are not disruptive to neighbourhoods, and so we are looking at different locations around the city trying to figure out where might be an appropriate location, then the plan is to try and work with those at the encampments and their legal representatives to try and relocate them to a more suitable location. Thank you.
Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we have heard from the lawyer spokesperson for the encampment residents that they've been looking for advice or direction from the GNWT as to which lots or specific areas might be suitable. So has the GNWT already given such advice as to what specific areas might be off limits or what specific lots might be preferable to the current encampment residents? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There have been discussions. I'm not -- I'd have to get back to the Member to find out if, you know, a specific address was provided. But those conversations have begun. Thank you.
Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
