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

Question 1018-20(1): Aspen Apartments Project Update
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 79)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Aspen Apartments, like I indicated earlier this week, there's been some electrical issues. Individual tenants would have their own power meters so they had to rework that out, and they were having issues with that, having tenants move over. That work has been done, and they're hoping to get them moved in over the next couple of weeks. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 1018-20(1): Aspen Apartments Project Update
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 79)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in Yellowknife we have over 300 families on the waitlist and we'll have to do some reassignments, but of course Aspen Apartments will be full. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 992-20(1): Aspen Apartments
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 77)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the latest update I have from Housing NWT is the apartment building has been shifted over to Yellowknife Housing Authority to move tenants in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 986-20(1): Fire Safety in Encampments
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 77)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, working closely with Yellowknife partnership's committee and the homelessness division. I think that there's constant communication and outreach, and we can provide details to the Member with the question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 986-20(1): Fire Safety in Encampments
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 77)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our homelessness department within Housing Northwest Territories works closely with encampment individuals, works closely with partners, with the City of Yellowknife, with the Salvation Army, with the YWCA. We do have a Yellowknife partnership committee that meets regularly, along with the NWT fire marshal, along with environment and climate change officials. So we do this constant communications and outreach including visits with the encampments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 992-20(1): Aspen Apartments
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 77)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Member again for the question. This is really important work that we're doing with Housing NWT because we're finding that sometimes we need to add the element of supportive care, wraparound supports. We're finding it throughout the North that many people are going into housing, and sometimes they don't have those personal living skills, and it's really important that we help them to be successful in housing because, again, we only have limited housing across the North and many times those relationships are fragile. So supportive living and wraparound...

Question 992-20(1): Aspen Apartments
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 77)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. Aspen Apartments was an ongoing renovation for the last couple of years, and we did have the opening. And with that opening, though, we found that there were some electrical that still needed to be done, so we delayed moving clients in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 986-20(1): Fire Safety in Encampments
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 77)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since the NWT fire marshal doesn't report to me, I don't have that information at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 76)

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to welcome Deborah Raddie. Debbie is the constituency assistant for Nunakput and also a good friend of mine. I thank her for her role and the good work with constituents throughout the riding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 962-20(1): Radon Testing in Public Housing Units
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 75)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, Housing NWT recognizes the importance of the continued radon testing for health and safety for our tenants. Housing NWT would be pleased to share best practices and lessons learned with NWTAC and LGANT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.