Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a northern Indigenous born and raised in Fort Rae as shown on my birth certificate, I am proud of the Student Financial Assistance Program that we have in the Northwest Territories. I heard many times by others, it is one of the best student support programs in Canada. With the changes that the Minister of ECE put in place last Assembly, there is more support for Indigenous students, which I hope will help to improve the education outcome for students in the NWT, especially in small communities. The outcome is not good.

My concern with this bill, with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain what the concerns that the department has or that the government has overall regarding the potential negative impacts that rent control may impose on the private housing market. Thank you.

Thank you. My question is for the Minister of Justice. Mr. Speaker, last May in the GNWT response to Motion 75-19(2), maximum allowable rent increase for private rental units, the government stated that the Department of Justice was going to undertake a review of the Residential Tenancy Act during the 20th Assembly. Can the Minister of Justice provide a timeline for when the departmental review of the Residential Tenancy Act will take place? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, thank you for the answer. With that in mind with what he just said, can the Minister commit to making rent control regime included or part of the Residential Tenancy Act? Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister share how extensive that review will be and explain what sorts of changes will be considered? Thank you.

Thank you. Rental caps. Mr. Speaker, today I want to speak about housing and the ever-increasing cost of rent for NWT residents. Mr. Speaker, it is becoming more apparent with every passing year that the price for people to rent any housing accommodation in the NWT, especially here in the capital, is getting out of control. With the cost of living crisis that we all are already in, some families have to choose between paying rent or putting food on the table to feed their families.

Mr. Speaker, how are we going to attract more people to move here if all rental options are sky high or expensive...

Regarding the housing operations and support, I want to ask the Minister she is well aware of it too because she, you know, Tuk is in the same situation as we are in Tlicho region, especially in Behchoko. You know, with the housing crisis we have a waitlist of over 200 applicants on you know, in Behchoko alone. And I don't think the waitlist decreased but it increased, it went up because there's more family coming back, that are moving back to the communities, and it's having an effect, you know, on the families that, you know, taking in the family members that just moved back to the...

Thank you. No, well, it's in my region and it's in her region, in all the North, because especially for seniors and elders aging in place, it's difficult for them to make ends meet so they you know, like, they do parttime job here and there or contract work and when income tax season comes, you know, a lot of times some of them they're denied the program. So I just want to ask the Minister if they can increase the income threshold to accommodate elders, retirees, so they can so they can apply for these programs, be eligible for the programs. Thank you.

Thank you. This fuel tank replacement for homeowners, I know that's a popular program because a lot of people in my region applied and got their fuel tank replaced and etcetera. So for this fiscal year, I see the program is I don't know if it's discontinued, but there's no money allocated. So if the Minister can explain why this fiscal year, because people are going to be asking.

Thank you. So with that amount, so how much is allocated to Tlicho region of that amount?