Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about encampment fatigue, Mr. Speaker. And to be clear, a lot has changed in this particular narrative. I remember even speaking to some constituents, you know, a year ago, fervent supporters of that, and as those encampments get closer to their area, it's funny how quickly that feeling changes and frustration.
Mr. Speaker, people care about the challenges, but they also want something done. The community is facing these challenges of unsanctioned encampments. They see problems where they threaten public health, safety, quality of life, and the ongoing noise and stress people have on and on.
Mr. Speaker, no one is suggesting in any way that these folks do not deserve some type of help, Mr. Speaker. It's quite the opposite. They do need help. But we need good, clear public policy that's transparent, worked on with the public, the public can see what it means, Mr. Speaker. I've been to some of these encampments and in some cases, Mr. Speaker, frankly, I find them disturbing to see the conditions some folks are living in.
Now, to be clear, we're not talking about the lone individual who's in a tent who's pitched, trying to get by, and needs a little help. We're talking about these collectives that end up becoming unsafe, unhealthy, and, interestingly enough, the population is even continuing to organize. They even ban people in some of these encampments, which is strange, Mr. Speaker. When you drive by one, you start to wonder about the health and safety conditions, the addictions some of these people must be facing, and there's other concerns. And I could stress and underscore individual residents are talking about their frustration where they have to go to these encampments and get their personal items back that somehow were liberated and end up being found there. Oh, and another important one to underscore, where they have to disconnect the power from their home that they're paying that's strung a line across an alley into the encampment, Mr. Speaker. The point being is in some of these things, the disorganization is creating enough stress for the community, and we need clear and practical policy to help.
Mr. Speaker, we're not addressing the challenge of saying what expectations should we provide, when should we restore certain types of supports, how do we help the vulnerable. Mr. Speaker, what do we do for the neighbourhood, the accessibility and respect that they deserve, Mr. Speaker? It seems the neighbourhood keeps getting forgotten about, these particular things. Mr. Speaker, these types of service levels need to be defined so we can be consistent, and we can ensure.
And, lastly, Mr. Speaker, one of the often comments I hear is they want more, such as water, outhouses, garbage, etcetera, but we have space in shelters. We need to have that conversation, and I'm hoping we will later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Members' statements. Member from Nunakput.
