Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in every other jurisdiction in Canada, I can stand up in the House and ask a Minister what exemptions, what changes, and how the National Building Code applies in that jurisdiction except the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker.
Right now, the answer to whether the National Building Code applies in the Northwest Territories is something like "part of it", "somewhere", "sometimes", Mr. Speaker. And we know this. We know this because we have sued ourselves over it, and we know this because there are numerous contractual disputes about when and how the code applies in this territory.
And, Mr. Speaker, there are many debates that need to be had by jurisdictions about what sections they want of the National Building Code. For example, the National Building Code is not only the standard. There's the Canada Safety Association Standard on Accessibility. Our Human Rights Commission has had multiple cases where they have said the National Building Code is not enough for accessibility. They have recommended that we implement higher accessibility standards in the Northwest Territories.
Additionally, Mr. Speaker, right now in BC or Alberta or Ontario or Quebec, I could build a 12storey mass timber building. Mass timber is one of those areas that has exceeded beyond the current building code and is recognized as the more sustainable and cheaper option for northern building. But that would be illegal, presently, in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, there is a very large debate about what energy standards we want to adopt in the Northwest Territories. Right now, we haven't really adopted any. Perhaps we need northern specific sections for building on permafrost.
Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about single points of egress in four to sixstorey buildings. I love single points of egress in fourstorey buildings, Mr. Speaker. Ontario is looking how to adopt those because we recognize now that new buildings that are built with fire safety standards don't need a second stairwell. In fact, all that second stairwell is doing is driving up the cost of building and further increasing our housing crisis. Yet, Mr. Speaker, we can't have that conversation here because we do not have a Building Standards Act.
Mr. Speaker, the steps right now to get a building approved depend on which municipality you're in, and there are literally hundreds of steps and hundreds of points of approval across multiple jurisdictions.
I believe that implementing a Buildings Standards Act will pay for itself in streamlining the building process and it will help alleviate our housing crisis.
I'll have questions for the Minister of MACA. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.
