Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I was speaking about homelessness. Does the Minister responsible for the public housing department have any reliable information on the homeless, the number of homeless individuals in the smaller communities?
The honourable Minister responsible for the homeless, Mr. Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, there’s a distinction we have to make as we talk about the homeless. Or are we talking about individuals who may be hard to house? They are, I believe, in almost every community, including the one I come from. They have had every opportunity. Their families don’t want them staying in their houses. They have addictions issues. They have lifestyle issues. So if there is an issue of not enough houses for people, there are waiting lists for public housing.
We do struggle with the issue of hard-to-house, where they have often had programs, and they have often left the houses in considerable disrepair. So yes, it is an issue we struggle with. There is a program for homelessness, so there is funding over winter to ensure there is, hopefully, a warm place for every homeless person if they need it. But it is an issue on which there is no final solution that we have come up with yet.
Just for the Minister. Let’s just pick one and we could start somewhere. These issues are big in the smaller communities. Once you walk out of this building, you see it in downtown Yellowknife. We have to start somewhere. If the Minister and government are willing to work with us, as the Regular Members, to do something about it, I really urge them to.
Mr. Speaker, clearly we are interested in working with the committees and communities. In Yellowknife we’ve just opened Bailey House. We have the Salvation Army. We have the Side Door over here for youth. In some communities there are places for those who are hard to house to stay. But clearly, it is an issue, and we are willing to work with our Members.
What has the department tapped into from federal government monies on homelessness?
Mr. Speaker, there was some funding from the federal government that helped, in fact, build structures like Bailey House. It helped us put some money into homeless initiatives in small communities to help cover off those that are needed when it is cold and freezing outside. So we have put what money we have been able to get to use.
Unfortunately, what tends to happen when there is a federal announcement…. It is done on a per capita basis, and the amount of money that actually comes to the Northwest Territories is very small.
Final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just a question on that, Mr. Minister. In the smaller communities, families that are hard to house, or homeless, become a burden to family members with houses and to grandparents. So basically, we take care of our own. We try to. Will he help them and how?
Mr. Speaker, I’d be very interested to sit down with the Member if he wants to talk about his particular communities in Nunakput. As well, the Housing Corporation would be interested to sit down, along with the other departments that have a role to play here through the business-planning process, to take a look at what’s currently there. There is a small community homelessness fund. There’s other funding in the larger centres.
Clearly, it is an issue, and yes, it involves families; it involves communities. The government can be of assistance. It also involves individuals who, at the end of the day for whatever reason, make choices they don’t often want to change from. We have to consider all those factors. We’re interested to sit down and talk about that.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
