Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I am going to just change direction a little bit there. I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services again. I have heard from different people, and I am pretty sure the Minister has probably heard some of the same information, that people struggle with housing stability and affordability especially during after-care and post-treatment. What I have heard from people is: it's far easier to fall back into a life of addiction than it is to find support and remain in stable housing sometimes. I am wondering if the Minister of Health and Social Services will establish a relationship with her Minister to the back and two people over, for the Housing Corporation, to provide support to people struggling to maintain stable housing through their sobriety. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am of course delighted to work with my colleague from the NWT Housing Corporation. I really believe that housing is a key component to recovery, that people need to have their own space to provide for sober living and a sober social life and that without that it's very easy to relapse and go back into shelters and couch-surfing and to be exposed to all of those triggers that sent them into their decline in the first place. This is truly an integrated case management issue, where the person who is trying to retain their sobriety is going to need a number of supports. Housing is certainly one; counselling is another; and of course, income assistance and other measures, as well, to really stabilize the person in their recovery. Thank you.
I am wondering if the Minister will commit to specifically working on the eviction protocols and policies that the LHAs and LHOs currently work with to evict people who are not paying rent or are not meeting tenancy agreements, to see where Health and Social Services can further support LHOs and LHAs to see housing success for the people of the Northwest Territories.
The rental office is a division of the Department of Justice.
I realize that the rental officer is part of Justice, but what I am referring to is: the LHAs and the LHOs go through a methodical process before they evict somebody, and they try their best to provide people with support from their LHOs and LHAs. LHOs and LHAs simply are not mental health counsellors, and they are not addiction counsellors. I am wondering if Health and Social Services will lend some support to the NWT Housing Corporation to see where Health and Social Services can further support them in that process.
The supports are there. They may not be well known, so certainly, I would like the LHAs and the LHOs to be aware of the Community Counselling Program, child and youth care counselling program in their communities so that they can make known to their tenants that these services are available to them and that then, hopefully, the tenants will take that up and will get the assistance they need. The Member may also be referring to housing support workers. I know there was a pilot program in Behchoko where there was somebody who was specifically working with tenants on housing stabilization, and that I think was more of a navigator position. That is really something that my colleague at the NWT Housing Corporation could speak to in more detail.
