Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister responsible for Homelessness. The question is in regards to the conflicting figures that sometimes we use. The point is that homeless people are just not numbers. They are actually people, so my question is to the Minister: what steps is the Minister taking to correct the conflicting figures in terms of homelessness and to try to get a true picture, especially as it relates to engaging our federal colleagues in regard to funding on housing and homelessness? Mahsi
Masi. The Minister responsible for Homelessness.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To actually get an accurate count on homelessness is something that is a huge challenge, because you can just look at the shelters. You can get numbers from there. You can actually get numbers from the RCMP, but there is a whole population of hidden homelessness that is unmanageable or unrealistic to be able to count, and those include people that are youth, that are sleeping on couches, a lot of families sharing accommodations. Unless people identify as being homeless, then it's really hard to get those numbers. To get an accurate figure, I'm afraid that that would be a real challenge. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I’d like to thank the Minister for her reply. Three out of 27 communities are part of the Northern Pathway to Housing. Is the department contemplating expanding the plans to include all of the communities in the NWT, and at what point?
At this point, yes, the Northern Pathways to Housing is putting in seniors' facilities into Behchoko, Fort Simpson, and Aklavik. Actually, Fort Providence is the next community on the table. I can't guarantee whether they will be able to put homeless shelters into every community, but we will be looking at putting a homeless shelter into every region. That would be the goal at this point.
I would like to thank once again the Minister had indicated that it's actually unrealistic for us to come up with a true figure for homelessness. We've seen other jurisdictions across Canada, including the city of Medicine Hat, that set out a goal to eradicate homelessness, and they are pretty close to that reality. Is it the goal of this government to eventually eradicate homeless in NWT?
I am certain that it would be the goal of the GNWT to eradicate homelessness and to provide housing for every person in the Territories. However, would that goal be realistic would be the other problem to do. This will take time. It took a lot of time to get here. It's going to take a lot of time to fix. We are hoping that the federal government will follow through on its promise to invest in social infrastructure funding, though.
Masi. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake.
