Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since Tlicho government is doing a lot better than the Housing NWT for program and services so therefore, I appreciate she acknowledged that.

Can the Minister commit to improving regional decisionmaking authority for housing in the Tlicho? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the mission of Housing NWT is to, quote, "increase the wellbeing of individuals and communities by providing fair access to quality housing support for people most in need," end quote.

Mr. Speaker, it certainly doesn't feel that the Tlicho communities have fair access to quality housing support. Can the Minister commit to improving the delivery of housing programs and services in the Tlicho region? Thank you.

Yes, thank you. I'm glad that they mention that. But, you know, especially in my region, Tlicho region, we are in housing crisis. We have lots of housing that are sitting vacant, like, for many years. And it's not just that. There are some other houses in the community that are occupied by tenants and they keep complaining that there's all kind of issues with the unit. And they keep calling the LHO office, but they don't have the capacity, so. And some of them they don't have the training do the job.

And I know that we need to we need to help our locals to get the training that they need, you...

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Since we're on training and support workshops, I'm just looking at here, the 254, is that going to be enough money to make up for the years that from 20212022 we only had three? Like, is it because it lapsed and it's, like are we going to make up for it? Are we on the right page? 379?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In this House, we heard so many times about strategic renewal and with the housing itself as you know, with the housing itself. It seems like we've been hearing about it all the time with no actions.

So, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister commit to decentralizing programs and services from Yellowknife to the Tlicho region? Thank you.

What is MACA doing to ensure that all communities have the resources they need to provide sports and recreation; i.e. a sports centre in Gameti? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know there are some communities some community governments are funding recreation programs by renting out their sportsplex. For example, when you go to Behchoko, you will see Tlicho government department situated in the sportsplex. They're renting out space so that they can fund their recreation program.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm if there are active recreation departments or centres in every community in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge and congratulate the following young Indigenous Tlicho citizens who participated in Arctic Winter Games 2023:

Jimmy Joe Drybones;

Tenisha Steinwand;

Joshua Wedzin;

Patsy Wetrade. Patsy is originally from Whati but she is living in Behchoko to attend Chief Jimmy Bruneau school;

Rusty Mantla is an admission coach; and,

Ryan Barbeau is a teacher and a coach.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud of these young people’s dedication and commitment to sports. They work hard and represented the NWT, especially the Tlicho Nations, but we do more...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, community government are struggling as is with funding received from MACA. I'm sure community government would like to build such facility to accommodate the young people, but they cannot afford with the money that they have currently.

So I'm going to ask the Minister, will the Minister commit to advocate to the Infrastructure Minister to build recreation centres in communities that lack such facilities, to promote sports, so that next Arctic Winter Games we will see more young people from small communities represented at Arctic Winter Games? Thank you.

Well, I can tell you Gameti does not have one. So can the Minister commit to ensuring every community has an active recreation department that is provided with an adequate budget that provides organized sports, sports activities? Thank you.