Kate Reid

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to help people who want to make NWT their home. And who can blame them? It's one of the best places on earth as far as I can tell.

Since 2009, our nominee program has supported over 1100 foreign nationals and over 660 of their dependants in accessing permanent residence from the federal government. Since its inception, over 200 different NWT employers have accessed the nominee program to assist them in filling their workforce needs in every region of our territory.

Mr. Speaker, our territory has a tremendous amount of hard-to-fill roles. From a purely...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for that. So maybe my request to the Minister could be to sort of get a fulsome picture of what the security breakdown looks like for units both owned and leased in Yellowknife. Thank you, Madam Chair.

And I guess I have one final question sort of for this section while I still have time on the clock which is it's much more of a larger territorial scope question, but could Housing NWT advise as to how many new units they anticipate to enter their stock by the end of the Assembly. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, no, that's great to hear, and it's increasing. As the Minister knows, there are security concerns in a lot of rental units that are in my riding in Yellowknife at large, and it's good that Housing NWT is working on that particular item. I'm hoping that maybe the department or Housing NWT, I should say, could return with a detailed breakdown for Members at a later time. But I'll leave that there for now.

When it comes to the units that they rent, is there not a removal of security coverage for public housing tenants in private properties that they rent in...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, although I can appreciate what my colleague from Yellowknife North just said and I also appreciate the intent of this motion, so I've heard my colleagues, the Regular Members' side, especially our -- my colleagues with CLCs in their communities. I want to support their frustration, their constituents' frustration. And in discussion with my colleagues and staff, I understand that this funding can be restored in a sup should the briefing with Aurora College coming up prove fruitful. And in that regard, I am comfortable with supporting this motion which, to my...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that from the Minister. Can the Minister please let me know if she is working with her colleague at ECE to include that messaging in some of ECE's messaging to folks who are panicking right now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all know that our allotment went from 300 to 150 due to federal government decisions around cuts across Canada. So can the Minister speak to more detail with her conversations with her federal counterparts; specifically, how she's advocating for our unique northern context which also applies to the newcomers and businesses that need to grow their workforce. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, many folks are panicked because of the goal posts of our nominee program are changing drastically in the last nine months. Available spots, associated timelines, have changed as well.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please explain what her department is telling people who do not meet the increased length of work history requirement with their employer or that have an impending work visa expiry? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks. That's all for now, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Yes. Yes.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, in the Housing NWT business plan, on page 36 of their business plan, there is a discussion around investment in security measures at $250,000 over three years. I assume that's for the public housing program, which is why I bring it up here. Madam Chair, can we please get a status update on all 11 multifamily dwellings in Yellowknife and what security measures are underway. Thank you.