Lucy Kuptana

Member Nunakput

Minister Responsible for Housing Northwest Territories
Minister Responsible for the Status of Women

Lucy Kuptana was elected to the 20th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories in November 2023 to represent the constituency of Nunakput, which includes the communities of Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, Tuktoyaktuk, and Ulukhaktok. A member of the Executive Council, she is the Minister Responsible for Housing Northwest Territories and the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.

Prior to her election, Mrs. Kuptana was the Senior Administrative Officer for the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk. She was also a director with the Tuktoyaktuk District Education Authority.

For 22 years previous, Mrs. Kuptana was the Director of Operations, Communications, and Culture with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC). In a volunteer capacity, she has served as a director of the Inuvik Homeless Shelter Society, trustee of the Arctic Inspiration Prize, president of the Inuvialuit Communications Society, director of the Inuvialuit Investment Corporation, director of the Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik Community Corporations, and a committee member for the 2023 Northern Youth Games “Inuvialuit Piuyausiat” in Tuktoyaktuk.

Originally from Aklavik and raised at her family’s bush camp in the Mackenzie Delta, Mrs. Kuptana obtained a Level II and Level III Certificate in Community Administration from Aurora College in the early 1990s and returned to graduate with a Diploma in Business Administration and Management in 2013. Mrs. Kuptana is currently enrolled with Yukon University, where she is working towards accreditation in the school’s First Nations Governance and Public Administration program.

Despite a successful career spanning decades, Mrs. Kuptana credits her husband and family in supporting her. She says she owes much of her success to those who have fought – and continue to fight – for Indigenous and Inuvialuit rights.

Mrs. Kuptana’s guiding principle is to lead with respect, empathy, knowledge, and the willingness to work hard for the constituents she represents and all residents of the Northwest Territories.

Nunakput Electoral District

Committees

Public Accounts
Lucy Kuptana
Nunakput
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Email
Phone
(867) 767-9143
Minister
Email
Email
Minister Responsible for Housing Northwest Territories, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women

Statements in Debates

Tabled Document 437-20(1): 2024-2025 Annual Report: Action Plan in Response to the Calls for Justice on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 72)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: 2024-2025 Annual Report Action Plan in Response to Calls for Justice on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 920-20(1): New Housing Allocation for Tlicho Communities
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 72)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the work with housing over the last couple of years has been extensive. Again, we've had a hundred units across the North from the 19th Assembly, and then we're completing the work of the 20th Assembly. So, again, in terms of specifics, I would have to give the Member some information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 909-20(1): Housing Northwest Territories Contracting Process
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 72)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, again, thank you to the Member for the question. It is quite concerning and -- to him. But Housing NWT needs to move forward with our modular construction because, as everyone knows in this Assembly and in the Northwest Territories, we need homes and we need more homes for Northerners. So if we continue to wait for appeal periods and vendor complaint processes, holding up the entire process, that means we're losing time to build homes and move those homes into communities. So it is a vendor complaint process, not an appeal process, and this will inform future...

Question 920-20(1): New Housing Allocation for Tlicho Communities
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 72)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, understanding the situation, I do know for a fact that with the 84 -- 94 units, because the Tlicho have been assigned 10 of those units, Tlicho government, that the community of Behchoko will be assigned ten of the modular units over the next two years. So these are being constructed in the Northwest Territories at the METCAN facility and in Behchoko in partnership with Tlicho government. So over the next couple of years, we'll have ten units for the community of Behchoko. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 909-20(1): Housing Northwest Territories Contracting Process
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 72)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, just repeating my answer, it is a vendor complaint process and this will inform future processes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 909-20(1): Housing Northwest Territories Contracting Process
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 72)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, a contract was recently awarded and announced for the Northwest Territories, 84 modular units in the North. There is an exemption period, an appeal period, and housing is moving forward with the construction. And the exemption or the oversight of the bid will be used as a lesson going forward if there's any discrepancies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 892-20(1): 2025 Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Housing in the Northwest Territories
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 71)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for the question. I believe that housing has a lot of work to do. And I've mentioned this during the press conference and several interviews with media over the last couple of days. In terms of what are we going to do better is we need to do a lot more -- we need to do more follow-up. We need to do more quarterly reporting. We need to keep those decision-makers that are making decisions accountable for reporting and to getting things done, completed, especially around when we look at houses across the North, the unit condition rating is quite...

Question 900-20(1): Aspen Apartments Project Update
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 71)

Mr. Speaker, Yellowknife Housing Authority does have a tenant allocation process, and they'll review the tenant list. But looking at the list itself, we do have 36 units within Aspen Apartments. 30 of them are one-bedroom and then 6 of them are two-bedrooms, so we just have to be careful in terms of the allocation because many of them are one-bedroom units. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 900-20(1): Aspen Apartments Project Update
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 71)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Aspen Apartments has been one of the projects of the 20th Assembly. I am pleased to note that we look at completion of mid-November for tenants to move in early December. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 892-20(1): 2025 Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly - Housing in the Northwest Territories
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 71)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm confident with the team at Housing NWT, with the team we have at headquarters, and having these internal discussions over the last couple of days, we have to drive this. And we know that with this Legislative Assembly that housing is the number one priority. And I have made my expectations very clear to staff that we need to drive this and get this done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.