Rocky Simpson

Over the years, communities and government have been talking about smaller homes for people, so I will ask the Minister: will she commit her department to seriously look at the construction of smaller homes for those who are homeless or hard to house?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Housing. Yesterday, I brought up questions about the lack of housing in Hay River. Since then, I have been thinking about it and becoming increasingly frustrated and angry, and only wrote the questions while sitting here. I will start with: in Hay River, I'm going to start recommending to those residents who cannot find permanent housing to start looking at other communities, as the government just can't deliver the housing they require.

My first question to the Minister would be: I would ask the Minister, considering we have a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have lots of conversations, and that is kind of part of the problem. What we need is more action. To address the housing deficit in the NWT, it always comes down to money. What action has the Minister taken to address the issue of lack of funding to substantially address our housing shortage here in the NWT? Is the Minister applying any pressure on the federal government to access additional funds for housing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It's not only a housing deficit that we are facing in Hay River. It is access to land, as well. Can the Minister commit to working collaboratively with MACA, Lands, and the Town of Hay River to ensure that land for public housing will be made available, with a quick turnaround?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I support this recommendation. What we have to do is we've got to look to working with Indigenous groups. We need to look at Indigenous ownership on some of these major projects. The other thing is we do need access to green energy and, in the South Slave, or even in the North, if we're going to promote manufacturing, we need access to cheap power, and right now we don't have that. This would provide opportunities in training, capacity building, business opportunities, contracting, a number of areas, so I think that it is okay to dream big. It's moving ahead, slowly...

The Hay River high-rise has been a sore point for many, but it has 122 apartments sitting empty right now. It is time to put our differences aside and seriously look at it as a viable place to reduce housing requirements in Hay River. This government did it with the Arnica Inn project here in Yellowknife. Why not the Hay River high-rise?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of housing in her role as the housing Minister and also the Minister responsible for Homelessness.

Last weekend, when I was home, I was driving home after work and I noticed someone lying in the ditch. It was one of my constituents. He was not under the influence; he was just tired, had a medical issue and no home to go to. He was lucky that a couple of young ladies were kind-hearted enough stop and call an ambulance for him.

When I arrived, he was alone. I stayed with him until the ambulance showed up, and at that time, he informed me...

Thank you, Madam Chair. What can I say? Being from Hay River I continually get emails. I know that the Minister had said that Protect NWT gets 10,000, or they had over 10,000. Well, I've had probably half of those as well. I think it is important that they take a look at communication all the way from the top right down like to the border and vice versa. There seems to be a real gap in communication. The other thing that I think the issue, like in community of Hay River anyways, was the monitoring. Who is in charge of monitoring? That was a big thing. Then we were told that it's up to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I'd be hoping that the Housing Corporation, knowing that there is a shortage in Hay River, would be kind of proactive, so I'm just wondering: when was the last time that anybody from the department has actually talked to the owner of the high-rise? I talk to him probably weekly, so I'm just wondering if your department has talked to him, or when was the last time anybody talked to him. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think that the people appreciate the beds that are made available to the homeless right now. Problem is that some of them are removed every once in a while, and they have nowhere to go. They had a shelter in the old part of Hay River, and it was closed. This morning there was somebody peeking out the window, so they moved back in. I told the guy, "Just keep the door open. Let them use it until something else comes up."

The next question I have for the Minister: it's not only the homeless that we need shelter for in Hay River. We need living accommodation for singles, couples, and families...