Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [No English translation provided.]
Mr. Speaker, today in my Member's statement I talked about the funding for housing that should be flowing directly to First Nations. I would like to ask the Minister a couple of questions on that. Has the Minister examined the treaties to see what the original agreement on the treaty part of housing indicates, and if not, can she do that? Thank you.
Masi. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, that was two questions. I will do my best at answering. I can say that no, I have not examined a treaty, but I can say that the federal government last year gave the territorial government $28,673,000. That is $28 million. That works out to less than a million dollars per community. It actually works out to $868,878 per community; that is less than a million.
The territorial government put in last year $81,702,000, which works out to almost $2,500,000 per community. Statistics show that our population in the Northwest Territories is half Indigenous, half Caucasian. What that shows me is that the territorial government is actually putting in more money towards Indigenous housing. I do not know the stats of Indigenous people in housing programs, but I do know in my past history working with marginalized families that the majority of families that suffer, and I think that might be across, are actually Indigenous. That is not okay, but that is the reality.
What I do think is that the Government of the Northwest Territories is putting in more than its share towards the Indigenous housing in the territories. In fact, we are putting in eight times what normal provinces are doing. Usually, provinces are putting in 1 to 2 per cent of their income. We are putting in eight times that. I think we are doing a lot towards supporting Indigenous housing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I was not going to get into Members' statements here, but Mr. Speaker, my point is I do believe that the original housing has evolved into the NWT Housing Corporation. What was originally on the NWT Housing Corporation, which created 2,000 units that were built under programs that were directly built by Department of Indian Affairs, was given to the NWT Housing Corporation, and that is how the NWT Housing Corporation started. The original intent was to continue to house Indigenous people with the NWT Housing Corporation. It has evolved into something else. I would like to ask the Minister if she can commit to working with the Dene Nation to see where common ground can be reached for funding for housing in the Northwest Territories.
Currently, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation does have a community initiative that we work with municipal and Aboriginal governments to kind of look at how we can work together towards providing more housing in their communities. Quite a few of the communities have come forward and are putting things like land or labour on the table. Therefore, we are putting things like material on the table. I am more than willing to work with any government that is willing to look at a kind of partnership model.
In regards to meeting with any specific Aboriginal government or nation at this point, in regards to the housing, I think it is a little bit premature. At this point, we are still trying to clarify where the Government of Canada is going with the housing strategy. The housing strategy was supposed to come out in November of this year. We were supposed to have a federal-provincial-territorial meeting in November. That has now been pushed back to December. I do know that, in the last fiscal year, there was funding directly provided to the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, which is an Aboriginal government.
At this point, I do not know where the Government of Canada is going to put the housing monies to; so I think it is a bit premature to meet with any Indigenous government until that is clarified from the Government of Canada.
The NWT Housing Corporation has existed for 40 plus years. I think it would not be premature. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister, then, if she can direct staff to do some research on the background of how the Housing Corporation has evolved originally from funding that flow to the Department of Indian Affairs and then eventually to the GNWT through the vehicle of the NWT Housing Corporation.
I recognize that GNWT does fund money that supports the Housing Corporation and that the money flowing from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is combined with that. However, I think the original intent was to house First Nations. I do believe that global agreements --
Member, what is your line of questioning?
Will the Minister agree to direct staff to research the history of social housing in the NWT? Thank you.
I would like to remind Members to shorten your preamble and also to answer in short answers. Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do want to make a clarification. In my answer before, I had said that we were half-Indigenous and half-Caucasian. That is incorrect. I have been corrected from the other side of the House, and they are absolutely right. We are about half Indigenous and half non-Indigenous. I do clarify that there are other people within our territory as well.
In regards to directing the staff to look into the history of the social housing, I will make my answer short and say yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the research, I am asking the Minister if she is willing to go back to the 1950s to when the first housing was built by Indian Affairs in the Northwest Territories. Thank you
Yes, I will direct the staff to go back to the very original to see where the housing was, how many houses were turned over, and I will ask them to actually do research on the actual $28 million that is provided from the Government of Canada and to see if that money is actually being distributed properly, because maybe I am wrong. Maybe less than a million dollars a community is more than we are actually spending in Indigenous community, although I have a feeling that we are actually spending a lot more than less than a million per community per year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
