Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, with the most recent blizzard in Paulatuk, with winds as high as 140 kilometres an hour, one roof blew apart, which is one of the newer buildings in the community. Mr. Speaker, I am worried the type of construction in the High Arctic communities, the design for a building, will not withstand the winter storms. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister improve the design and quality of homes that are being built in the Arctic and especially in Nunakput, where winter storms are occurring more often? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the roof was designed to withstand the strong winds. Obviously, the damage was unexpected. We will continue to work with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation as well as leadership in the communities, as you have heard me say many times in this House, as we develop our community housing plans to address some of these priorities as we are seeing weather that continues to happen, especially in the community of Paulatuk. I know we had a very strong storm there last year. Obviously, the roof was designed to withstand the strong winds. It is very unexpected, but we will work on continuing to address these kinds of concerns as we move forward, not only in Paulatuk but with all of our communities across the Northwest Territories.
It is good to see that the Minister is recognizing the harsh winds we have up North. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Housing announced that there will be community housing planning events. There is one scheduled for Paulatuk. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister give an update on what this meeting will consist of and what benefits will it bring to the community, not just the community of Paulatuk, but the region in Nunakput?
As Members know, I did make a statement in this House about our community housing plans last week, that prompted questions from other MLAs on how we are going to move about that and the five stages that we are going to take. Obviously, we do need a buy-in from leadership and community members. We need to raise awareness in the community and have people speak up about what the priorities are in their community as we build these community housing plans.
In my statement that I made last week, we are currently working on six communities. We signed agreements with three of them. We are working on signing agreements with the other three. As we get our staff to get out and have these discussions and get that community input on what they see is needed in their communities, then we will get our staff out, as well, as much as we can. I know they are listening right now, and I know they have been on the road quite a bit, not only discussing community plans but looking at addressing homelessness and other initiatives that we are doing within the department. As soon as we get the communities on a list, we will try to get to them as soon as we can, but, obviously, it is going to take a community buy-in and leadership and continue those discussions.
I appreciate the response from the Minister. It sounds like there is a start to some commitment there. Mr. Speaker, talking about agreements with territorial governments and between the GNWT and the IRC, it has proven to be a successful start on planning for the region. Mr. Speaker, as we move towards the end of this Assembly, will the Minister continue to improve upon the partnership between the IRC and the GNWT to ensure that the number and quality of homes in Nunakput increase with the rising population?
Of course, not only the IRC but all of our Indigenous governments, we have been meeting a lot since I have taken on the portfolio and building on the success and hard work that the previous Ministers have done. We are working to continue to get all of our programs out to the communities. Obviously, with new leadership and new elections, we need to update our leadership on the programs that the NWT Housing Corp provides, such as the community housing support initiatives. We have made that announcement on the co-investment fund. The bilateral agreements are going to have an impact throughout the Northwest Territories, which really prompted something new that hasn't been done before. We are going to be looking at doing an Indigenous housing summit, which we are actually looking at trying to maybe, possibly, create a Northern Housing Summit that we can have all of our partners and all of our communities participate in, but also invite other jurisdictions, such as the Yukon and Nunavut, to attend, and we will continue that strong partnership with the IRC and continue working with them.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, it is good to see that the Housing Corporation is developing some programs that will involve not just the territory, but also our sister territories across the North.
Mr. Speaker, lately there have been some really pressing housing issues in my region, and I commend the Housing Minister and his staff for the hard work that they do to start to put people in homes, Mr. Speaker. As they develop policy, Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister is: will the Minister involve northern MLAs and Indigenous MLAs, who represent Indigenous groups in their ridings, to be involved in developing policy together so that we have continuity? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I have also mentioned in the House that we are going through a strategic renewal process within the NWT Housing Corporation that we should be looking at presenting to standing committee, and obviously, we would always want input on that.
As MLAs, part of our job is working on direction of legislation and policies, but also including our leadership in that. One of the big things about the community housing plans is that we want community and local input into what is best for them, and it is going to be something that is going to be done throughout all of the communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
