Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think there is strong support in this room and in this Assembly to give more money for housing. However, I do have some concerns about the current structure of the Housing Corporation and the way it operates. I don't want to just throw money at it if it does not ultimately put more houses on the ground and for the best bang for our buck. I have concerns about the lack of democratic oversight of the Housing Corporation.

I am looking at a budget here I do not get to vote on. I don't even have an ability to put money in this budget. There is one Minister, and then there...

When I first ran for this job, I never thought I'd be so excited about an agreement to develop land-use regulations. In the past, we have tried to develop a Yellowknife periphery area strategy. This initially failed because it largely had a recreational focus and ignored the residential aspect that these are people's homes. It also failed to get proper consultation and engagement from the Akaitcho Government. I believe this work still needs to be done, to set out what the future of the Yellowknife periphery area looks like. Will the Minister develop a Yellowknife periphery area strategy?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Democracy is not a stationary institution. We must remember that innovation is a cornerstone to truly democratic politics, and as such, we cannot allow our institutions to become stagnant or irrelevant. When we stand here in this House and we're happy with 50, 60 percent voter turnout, I believe we have allowed this institution to become stagnant. I believe this House must champion electoral reform, Mr. Speaker. This is not just our elections. We must also remember we control school board elections and municipal elections in this House.

Mr. Speaker, one of the first ways...

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is the problem. I don't know to what level of oversight I should have of the Housing Corporation's budget, given it is arms-length. I have a lot of concerns with the Housing Corporation's budget and the way it does capital. Is the Minister willing to reach out to the Department of Finance and see what applying our GNWT financial responsibility policy to the Housing Corporation would look like, where the differences are? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is one of those things I struggle to understand: budgets and the Housing Corporation budget. If we are required to amortize $14 million in assets, are we not then required to spend $14 million in the capital budget? However, I note that this capital budget is not $14 million. Can I get an explanation for why that is? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe we have a very large wait list. We have a lot of housing units. I believe we don't own a lot of them. I would like to build capital such that we can have GNWT-owned housing units in Yellowknife. Is the Minister willing to bring the rented units or the amount of units that we don't own into GNWT ownership in the Housing Corporation? Thank you, Madam Chair.

This gets to my entire point, Madam Chair. I'm looking at a capital budget, which the Housing Corporation goes and creates, which is undeniably based on how much it has to pay the authorities, how many staff the authorities have, how much staff it has, because it all comes out of one other O and M budget. Perhaps the Minister can look into that and come back with options of corporate restructuring. How many public housing units do we have in Yellowknife, and what is the current wait list in wait list in Yellowknife, Madam Chair?

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Minister is also the Minister responsible for Homelessness. Perhaps a bad name, Minister responsible for ending homelessness is the goal here. You have no staff presently for that title. You just have an arms-length corporation. Is the Minister willing to look into getting herself some staff for ending homelessness?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I want the Minister to caution that they are not two departments: one is an arms-length corporation; the other is a department. Is the Minister willing to have a conversation with the Premier and bring back some options to Regular Members on corporate restructuring for how we fund housing in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Madam Chair.

I think that was a yes. I'm glad to hear that, and I'm glad to hear we are working with our Indigenous governments. Really, at the end of the day, what I am looking for is to give the vast majority of the land in Yellowknife North back to the Akaitcho and to keep a few leases in fee simple where my residents currently live. Can the Minister write to Akaitcho on what they would require to agree to land disposition of those leases?