Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I did prepare a Member's statement but I'll do it for this. This is the right time to do it.

Madam Chair, we say that this is a consensus government, and this is not how the consensus government should be operating. The consensus government that I know in my region, they work together. They collaborate; they consult, you know, on issues that might have an impact that you know, on its citizens. So I don't see this as a consensus government. And, yes, being an Indigenous person, you know, like, since 1763 we never like, I mean, we know what the government...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this time, there are a lot of housing from the 60s and 70s that are being that are being renovated at this time. Instead of doing that, what the Minister should be doing is focusing on building more houses. So with that, Mr. Speaker, it appears that housing NWT has some competing interest here. On the one hand, they claim they want to increase homeownership across the NWT, and they want to create partnership with Indigenous governments, but they are also afraid to receive a reduction in O and M funding and are therefore hesitant to sell, to sell off any of their...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, many of these houses are old, like, they're from 60s, 70. I just want to ask the Minister what are they using to determine to sell to transfer those units. Is it assessed value, or fair market value. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is not only in Tlicho community but in other Indigenous communities as well. But in all four communities, Mr. Speaker, there are dozens of housing units that some families have lived in for decades. Many people consider these houses their forever homes and, in most cases, families have every intention to pass on these existing homes to younger family to younger family members to ensure they are housed into the future. However, Mr. Speaker, some families have told me that it came as a surprise to them when they discovered that they are not actually the...

We know that a lot of people have different view on the Indigenous language, and some are saying okay, our language is dying; some are saying our language is thriving. So what I would like to see from this government is that this government should give the Aboriginal language fund to the Indigenous government because they are the authority over the language and culture, you know. They should have more say but they should give the funding to the Indigenous government. And I don't think I don't feel comfortable in support somebody from ECE having the authority over this language. So I would...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have some elders in the community who they did they entered into refinance agreement, and some of these elders are in their 70s. I mean, that should have been forgiven long time ago. I mean, that is not acceptable. That is unacceptable, Mr. Speaker. And we have some refinancing that was done with 20 years old and that the agreement is not in their name; it is in the parent's name. The family moved into the house before the child was born, and this is where they are doing refinancing agreement with a child that who got their first job. There's quite a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have mortgages that we know people cannot pay. We have a collection policy that shows our ability to forgive residents who are in this situation.

Can the Minister explain how Housing NWT administers its collection policy and how often people are assessed and forgiven from their debts based on their ability to pay those back, those debts? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Housing NWT has accumulated $16.5 million in arrears. Of that, $4.9 million is owed in mortgage payments. The role of Housing NWT is to provide safe and affordable housing to residents. It is not to set up people for failure, entering into mortgages with people only to evict them later because they cannot afford the mortgage.

Mr. Speaker, I have residents who renewed their mortgage with Housing NWT when it was clear they were unable to keep up with costs of that mortgage. I agree that we need to promote homeownership, but Housing NWT must consider a person's...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, I do have an issue with this too as well because we've been asking on Highway No. 3 to have cell service because that is the busiest highway and even you, Minister of Finance, said it before that it is a safety risk that, you know, since there's there's no cell service. I just I have a serious concern about that because we've been asking for cell service on Highway No. 3. We have a lot of incidents. We have life lost. And even last year when there was an incident on the highway, you know, like, I was talking about this young man at Boundary Creek, like, in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Youth need housing for shelter and their basic human needs. Housing is a first step for stabilizing youth and reducing loss of life. The probability of experiencing homelessness increases for youth who do not have access to housing. Youth in care are especially vulnerable if they do not have family or close relationships to support them as they transition out of care and secure housing. Youth need access to different housing options that are safe, affordable, and supportive. For example, Home Base YK Youth Dorms in Yellowknife offers programming every day and have staff...