Mr. Speaker, Happy New Year and welcome back. Mr. Speaker, in 2022, a work colleague and neighbour reached out and asked me if I had ever heard of radon. I was able to say yes, I had. My father had told me to get our home tested not long before we had our conversation. My neighbour told me that her family's home basement was testing high and that she was going to investigate mitigation measures.
In 2023, I purchased my own battery-powered radon monitor as my home has a crawlspace. After a year's worth of testing, I found that although my house is not experiencing extreme readings, it is still high enough to consider mitigation.
Mr. Speaker, much of the NWT is in a high radon hazard zone. Radon is an invisible, odourless, radioactive gas produced by the breakdown of uranium in soil. Radon gas is the second highest contributor to lung cancer after smoking. Just before this session, CBC News reported on this silent threat that is present in much of our country.
Since 2024, I have been talking to several ministerial colleagues about radon and what the GNWT is doing in this space. In essence, Health has a website outlining health concerns, Housing NWT is working on monitoring and mitigating radon levels in public housing, and every homeowner who receives an EnerGuide home energy evaluation from Arctic Energy Alliance receives a report that includes a health and safety overview highlighting radon as a concern for households. And well, that's about it.
The good news is that testing is not hard. Small portable devices are easily purchased and shared amongst neighbours. It helps to have a longer timeframe of testing but especially getting winter readings when doors and windows are closed as radon readings are higher as a result of trapped air. While getting readings is relatively easy, there is not a lot of local capacity in the NWT to install passive radon mitigation systems. In essence, these systems are a way to vent the gas from basements or crawlspaces. These systems range in price but are not cheap one-offs.
In speaking with the Minister of MACA before the holiday break, he agreed that radon is a concern in the territory and noted that he has seen high levels of radon in his region. Later today, I will table a jurisdictional scan of what provinces and territories are doing to test and mitigate radon for their residents. I will have questions for the Minister on what supports we can offer our NWT communities in taking on this health hazard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Members' statements. Member from Monfwi.
