Thank you. I'll go to the president.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're referring to three units for the example that the Member put forward. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Okay, that is good to clarify. So thank you for that. Although that does seem like a pretty low goal, but.
I just want the to finish -- so page 409 of the business plan sets a goal for total housing investment in the territory, and the goal that's written in the business plan is that there would be $50 million per year of housing investment coming from Housing NWT and then $50 million a year coming from outside organizations. Now, we heard yesterday from the Minister that the $50 million per year from Housing NWT, we're not sure if we can find yet because we need to go to outside funders like the federal government to find that $50 million.
So I find -- maybe the Minister can clarify what it means, then, to say in the business plan that we're going to contribute $50 million. It sound like of our own money and then $50 million coming from the outside, but now we're hearing that that $50 million isn't our own money; it's from the outside. So I'm wondering if that goal can be clarified or, really, it should be just changed to saying we're looking for $100 million from the outside. Period. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Dr. Erin Kelly will provide information to the question around the business plan. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the president.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So we have spent over $50 million the last two years. Much of that money is from federal investment, and we still are looking to the federal government for increases to that investment.
We're also aware of Indigenous governments and the distinction-based funding which is also contributing to housing in the Northwest Territories in large amounts of money, but we don't have the specifics related to that.
I think one of the things I will comment on is that if you look at the positions that Housing NWT is looking in our internal resources to fund, one of them is a planning and evaluation specialist, and we plan to take a look at the targets and measures that are in the business plan and work to improve them, and one of the pieces would be related to the last question that the Member had as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
I'll leave it there for now. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Is there any further questions? Seeing no further questions. I remind the committee that the estimates for Housing Northwest Territories are included as information items only. The committee will not be voting on the activity total.
Moving on to the homelessness program starting on page 389. Are there any questions? Yes, I'm going to go to the Member from Great Slave.
Sorry, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I apologize; I lost my hearing piece there. It's hard to hear otherwise. So did you say page 389, please, Mr. Chair?
389, yes.
Thank you very much. So in the item of emergency shelters, I'm just curious can the Minister please confirm that the reason the funding for that line item has dropped since 2023-2024 is because of a change in which department is actioning that line item or a different reason? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Dr. Kelly here will provide that information regarding emergency shelters. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the president.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the budget has not changed over time for that line item. What the Member is noticing is that the actuals are much higher than the budget, and the reason for that is for the funding related to the Inuvik shelters. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So as I was saying earlier in my Member's statement to the Premier today, it did take me a while to understand the differences between the portfolios been EIA and housing and just clarifying who is in charge of what when it comes to transitional and supportive housing versus where Housing NWT is public housing and homeownership programs that -- and the like.
Can the Minister please clarify how she sees the relationship between EIA and Housing NWT working in lockstep to create more options for transitional and supportive housing or if, indeed, Housing NWT is involved. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. An important question, especially around the transitional housing piece. But, again, like the Premier stated earlier, these homelessness and housing solutions, we need comprehensive and sustainable solutions around housing and homelessness in the Northwest Territories. So what we do as a department is we work with EIA together and have these discussions around shelters in the Northwest Territories and work in partnership, have discussions, have working groups around the homelessness transitional housing piece. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you to the Minister for that. I was trying to relay an example of urgency and decision-making, and I know that more cooks in the kitchen sometimes slows thing down, but is the Minister finding that there are clearer targets and pathways forward for these kinds of transitional and supportive housing pieces? It's -- I recognize there's lots of work going on in the background that we may not see as Regular Members, if it's -- you're basing your work off of the homelessness strategy, the Premier is basing his work off the homelessness strategy. But I just want to make sure that everybody's pulling in the same direction. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Dr. Erin Kelly will provide some more information around that question because it's important that we get to specifics. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the president.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think it's important to envision the role of EIA as a coordinator. There's many departments that work on the relationships, in particular for specific clients, and the focus from an EIA perspective is to ensure that we're doing the best for the client and trying to make sure that we can all work together. So I can say that there's a lot of work that's being done to look at client specific needs, determine who in the departments needs to work on those issues, and getting them working on those as quickly as possible and as effectively as possible. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Great Slave.
Okay, so just for -- thank you for that. Just for clarity, then, if there are industry partners or private multi-family dwelling property owners that are looking to partner with Housing NWT and/or EIA to start developing more options for both the homelessness and transitional supportive housing piece but also just more units available in Yellowknife for public housing clients, who do they go to? Because it just doesn't always seem to line up for clarity around who is holding specific reins on any particular file. Thank you Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll refer that to Dr. Erin Kelly. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the president.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So my understanding is if it's related to the building of the units that they can come through Housing NWT, and we would, of course, engage with EIA on those conversations. If it's about client needs specifically, my understanding is you would go to EIA and they would determine who -- the integrated work among departments on who would support them. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Would that also include renovating units? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Yes, that's correct, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That helps. I have nothing further.
Okay, thank you very much. I'm going to go to the Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, what strategies does Housing NWT have in place to meet the current base budget shortfall related to funding emergency shelters in the NWT? I note that there's been a pretty significant drop in the funding over the years, so can the department -- or Minister, sorry, speak to this.
Okay, thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Dr. Erin Kelly will provide us some insight to those strategies. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I'll go to the president.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. If you look at page -- the page that we're referring to, it's not that the budget has decreased. The budget has been the same. The challenge is that we have been running the shelters as a government, as Housing NWT in Inuvik, and it's costing additional funds to do so. Governments are not the best suited all the time to be doing this type of work, and our strategy is to try to find others who are interested in taking over the work to manage those shelters in community where they know the folks and they're better suited for that action. So you'll be aware that in Hay River, we've been successful in that regard, and we're still working on that in Inuvik, trying to work with partners for them to take over, properly funded, to work and manage those facilities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And actually that was going to be my next question was just so -- if the department has any details on any progress they've made on that item that, reestablish a third party operator for the Inuvik shelters, would appreciate knowing it. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Of course we can share that information. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
