Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I referenced in my Member’s statement a report on homelessness. I’d like to ask the Minister responsible for the homeless what programs and services exist to assist homeless people to find appropriate housing with the support services they need.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for the homeless, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We do have coordination between the departments of Health and Social Services, NWT Housing Corporation and ourselves, and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. We do have programs with the Small Communities Homelessness Fund towards homelessness and also homelessness support projects, so there are plenty available for these individuals at the community level. Also, when they’re outside their community, there’s assistance for them to go back to their own communities.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister for that information. I recognize that those programs do perform some service, but individuals who are homeless and need some place to turn.... Can the Minister advise where a particular individual or a family might go when they are desperately in need of housing?
Mr. Speaker, the homeless in the communities can turn to various avenues, whether it’s the social workers who work seven days a week, 24 hours a day, on call. We do have some facilities in communities — in Yellowknife the new Bailey House is going up, the Sally Ann, the SideDoor — and there are homelessness shelters here as well. These are the avenues that individuals can turn to. There are income support areas, but more so, it’s the social service workers that are on call. Those are the avenues they can turn to as well.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that we do have some avenues that people can take advantage of when they are desperate.
You referenced a number of facilities and a number of options, but in particular women do not have a facility, especially here in Yellowknife. I’d like to know if the Minister can advise what plans exist to expand the funding that’s available to communities to provide for homeless people.
Mr. Speaker, we will continue to provide the services and programs that I highlighted. We are in the process of meeting, as the social envelope Ministers — myself as Education, Culture and Employment Minister, Minister Lee and also Minister Miltenberger — on this particular subject that the Member is referring to: homelessness and the programs and services that we provide, how we can enhance those areas, where can we make changes, and how can we improve certain programs. We will be discussing those key areas once we meet. We were talking about possibly sitting down and dealing with those issues in, I believe, the next couple of weeks. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
I thank the Minister for that information. It’s gratifying to hear that the social programs Ministers are working together, and they are looking to expand the services or programs that would be available to homeless people.
He suggested they’re going to meet within the next couple of weeks. I’d like to ask the Minister if he could advise the time frame for when he can report back to this Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, once we meet as a social envelope committee, I can certainly share that information with the Member and also the Members of the Social Programs Committee. Certainly, after we meet, we can do up a summary report of what has taken place.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
