Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Why stop at three, let's try for a fourth.

Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge that the Minister did inform us that housing is intending to create a data dashboard with the information that they collect, and I want to thank the Minister for that. The Minister might remember that the Department of Finance also has their open data portal that was recently released. And I'm wondering if the Minister of Housing will commit to ensuring that collected housing data is, where appropriate, updated on the GNWT's open data portal as well so that we have a consolidated...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for that yes. I'm wondering, Mr. Speaker, if the Minister is working with ISSS to determine best practices and available systems for data collection, management, analysis, and use. If not, will the Minister commit to working with ISSS to determine a solution for integrated data collection management and use? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to recognize Kam Lake resident Karen Patterson Wiley who has joined us in the gallery today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table an email I received February 7th, 2023, from the Office of the Minister responsible for Housing Northwest Territories regarding demographics of public housing tenants. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. We have long been awaiting this document and have yet to see a draft on that and very much welcome it at the committee level.

Another recommendation was for the Yukon Housing Corporation to develop and implement a program evaluation framework. We heard in the Minister's remarks yesterday that we don't have a systematic data collection. So will the upcoming homelessness strategy include a plan for systematic data collection and program evaluation framework? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a second round of questions for the Minister of Housing NWT, specific this time to the homelessness strategy.

Mr. Speaker, last year the OAG audited public housing in the Yukon. The OAG found that the Yukon Housing Corporation did not have complete, timely, and relevant information to manage programs and benefits. Three of the nine recommendations coming out of Yukon's audit were on data collection and analysis. Has the Minister been briefed on the results of the Yukon audit and on how those lessons could be applied here in the NWT? Thank...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I want to thank the Minister as well. Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge that data sharing increases the risk of exposure as well as potential for bias. But there are existing frameworks that work to reduce this bias. The First Nations principles of ownership, control, access, and possession assert that First Nations have control over the data collection process. This is also known as OCAP and is the framework that protects Indigenous sovereignty as well as people at risk of or experiencing homelessness. In addition to those concerns, experiencing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to first ask some questions to the housing minister in regards to data collection as a whole for the organization.

Right off the top, Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Minister will commit to changing the current data collection practices of Housing NWT and commit to strategic data collection and analysis? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of housing responded to questions on data collection on the homeless population. One of her responses was astonishing and disappointing. She explained that the department does not, quote, "currently have systematic collection of data on this population to allow us to track the population over time. Not only does this make it difficult for me to tell you how many NWT residents are impacted at any point, but it also means that I do not have data on how long individuals remain homeless and what kind of housing solutions they move into."

D...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister identifying that it is a work in progress and that ECE is still working on this. And I also appreciate the Minister of Health referencing that they are currently working on this with other departments, including the department of education. I think it's really important, and we can't still find ourselves in another decade simply looking at the fact that there's vacancies and saying, well, we just don't have enough speech language pathologist, so we just have to make do. We're going to have to look at other creative solutions like...