Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Justice. So every year, the NWT Rental Office makes many of the same recommendations over and over on ways that the Residential Tenancies Act should be changed to better protect both tenants and landlords. Has the government formally responded to any of these recommendations? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, although no formal response has been issued for these recommendations from the NWT Rental Office, the Department of Justice has committed to undertake a review of the Residential Tenancies Act during the 20th Assembly in response to the annual report of the rental officer, and the recurring issue of illegal activities in public housing raised through various channels are certainly one of the key reasons that we're undertaking this work. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister. So I'm interested if the Minister can tell us some more details about the timeline for reviewing the Residential Tenancies Act and how the scope of the changes to the Act will be determined. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department was hoping to have the Act reviewed by the end of the summer of 2025, but this review has been delayed primarily due to capacity challenges, and really those key changes that we've made is we've really focused our resources on the three key pieces of community safety legislation - the Trespass Act, the SCAN legislation, and the Civil Forfeiture Act. And this has slowed the timeline for the review, conducting the review of the Residential Tenancies Act. We have started that work however, and there's plans to do engagement with stakeholders on the Act before the end of the fall of 2025, and I realize that that's coming up fairly quickly. And this review will form the amendments to the Act in the 21st Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I realize we define our seasons in pretty broad terms here, and there are a few leaves still on the trees, but we do have snow on the ground, so I would say fall could be officially deemed over.
Finally, what is the government doing to ensure that tenants are aware of their existing legal rights, including providing enhanced access to legal aid supports? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so it's important to recognize that the rental office is a judicial body that adjudicates the Residential Tenancies Act to both landlords and tenants. You know, we've recently made some changes to have friendlier applications to the rental office for landlords and tenants, which are now available online. We've updated policies and posted them online for greater transparency. We have a handbook posted that explains the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants. And upon request, the Literacy Council and the Francophone Association has provided information sessions. We also -- in regards to legal aid support, the Outreach Clinic provides residents within NWT an hour of free legal advice and referrals with walk-in sessions two days a week in community clinics where an outreach lawyer travels to different NWT communities to provide legal advice and public legal education. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
