Thank you, Mr. Chair. The advisory committee is intended to serve an important role in making sure that the GNWT is hearing from people with lived experiences in this space. So that is the primary driver to make sure that we're not working on this important action plan in isolation. So having that perspective -- those perspectives from across the territory are important to provide a feedback on the actions within the action plan. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Back to the Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that answer. It says here that as of printing, the terms of reference for this committee is completed, there are letters to IGEs being distributed to invite folks to join the advisory committee. Can the Minister or his staff please explain the current status of the committee. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I believe that at this point, there are efforts underway to follow up with partner governments to ensure that we have the appropriate representation from across the territory to serve on the committee. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go back to the Member from Great Slave.
Yeah, no, thank you, Mr. Chair. That's really good to hear, and I think that will really benefit the work that the GNWT is doing on this particular item and the calls to justice. So no, very happy to hear about this work being done. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Nothing further.
Okay, thank you. Any Members to have questions? Okay, thank you. No further questions, please turn to page 133.
Executive and Indigenous Affairs, gender equity, operations expenditure summary, 2025-2026 Main Estimates, $3,755,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Moving on to governance and services integration on page 136 with information items on page 139. Are there any questions? I'm going to go to the Member Frame Lake -- sorry. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I just wanted to speak to the non-government organization stabilization fund, and mostly what I'm curious about is I had been asking the Minister in a previous sitting of the Assembly about the plan to stabilize funding for NGOs and stabilize support for them. I'm just looking for an update. I note that this budget item hasn't changed in a while, and if anything, it's reduced. So can the Minister give us an update on this because he has committed in the House to strengthening this sector and to focusing the work to strengthen and help this sector as a result of the report that was published recently. I don't have the name of the report on hand, but if the Minister could give us an update on that work, it would be appreciated. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you. So the NGO stabilization fund that -- previously with Department of MACA is one of the line items that we have inherited as we work towards integrating services across government starting with how we work with the NGO sector. And so for now, this year, it is a status quo for that NGO stabilization fund, but we are planning on engaging with the NGO sector to determine how we move forward with the suite of programs that we really use to support this sector right now, and that work is to begin this year. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And so, yeah, unfortunately, I don't have the -- I can't remember the name of the report off the top of my head, but, you know, the Premier has in hand a report that was very recently done that was all about everything that needs to be done, so now he's talking about engagement. I would just note the engagement was done. I was asking about implementation of that, and, you know, the Premier had committed previously on the floor of the House to, you know, implementing that report. So that's what I was asking about is the progress we're making on engagement that's already been done. We already have the answers we're looking for. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think I misheard part of the Member's question earlier. So I'll hand it to the deputy minister for some more information on this. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Recently, the department issued a release whereby we announced a new position dedicated to strengthening the relationship with non-governmental organizations, charitable organizations. So since having a person in that position, that individual has embarked on outreach with major NGOs, going to their offices or their sites and listening to them and hearing about their issues. The report that the Member referenced is a live topic of conversation, so we're looking at making sure that implementing recommendations in that report is part of our work plan as we start to shift within the GNWT how departments and agencies work in partnership with -- or with NGOs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Frame Lake.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. And I do apologize. The way I structured the question probably wasn't the clearest, and I appreciate the answer from the deputy minister on that. I am happy to hear that work is progressing on implementation of that report and continue to encourage the department to keep working on that because, yeah, support for NGOs is important, and just want to emphasize the fact that we did the engagement, we have the answers. It's about implementation now. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. Minister.
Thank you. Both the deputy minister and I are not a fan of endless reviews and action plans and strategies. We're more -- we're fans of action, so I'm on board with the Member. Thank you.
Thank you. Any further questions from Member from Frame Lake?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Not at this time.
Thank you. I want to go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to start by asking -- I mean, a big priority of this unit is to implement the NWT -- or the GNWT's homelessness strategy, A Way Home. Can the Minister explain how much money out of this budget is specifically allocated to implementing the homelessness strategy? Are we to assume that the $1.4 million under strategic approach to homelessness is the implementation of that strategy, or is there more nuance to what is being spent on implementing the strategy? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the total is beyond that. We've had a number of initiatives so far in this fiscal year that we have expended money on, the on-the-land camp, and we are -- or have -- receiving federal funds for transitional housing. For a bit of a breakdown, I can pass it maybe to the deputy minister. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. What the Member will note in the main estimates, we'll have $3,686,000 related to the homelessness strategy as well as the federal funding from public safety Canada in association with the NWT wraparound services or integrated service delivery. That's another $824,000. So broadly speaking, both of those funds will be used largely in support of advancing integrated service delivery as a service model in government, and we're using homelessness issues as the focal point for integrated service delivery. So there's some overlap in those funds that are being directed towards that purpose. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So thank you for clarifying that. Is there anywhere that there's a report currently available or being produced that looks at the action items in the homelessness strategy and goes through and says which have been achieved or underway or, you know, what is the update on progress on each of the items? Is that available online somewhere or publicly? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you. So we are working on a tracker that we can share with committee. It's not, you know, available right now, but, yes, that work is underway. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the (audio).
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister give us an estimate of when we might expect to see that tracker? Thank you, Mr. Chair
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Next month. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Okay, thank you for that. That will be helpful. I do look forward to going through that closely. I wanted to ask for more details on the NWT wraparound services. I understand that the GNWT portion is just a small portion of the program because we're getting a lot of federal funds to complement that. Can you explain better what specific programs the NWT wraparound services supports? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So largely the work of -- or the funding associated with the wraparound services is being used to advance a model of integrated service delivery for the GNWT. So as mentioned in a previous response to the Member, the -- we're using homelessness, the needs around transitional housing, as a focal point for testing and proving our model of integrated service delivery. So some examples of uses for that funding are, you know, helping us with governance structure, internal governance structure reform recommendations, training for staff, internal communications to shift culture, evaluation work around, like, logic model planning of program structure, among other things. So it's really about helping us to make sure that as we're prepared to roll out regional locations where we're implementing integrated service delivery that we're prepared to do so in an effective manner. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am hopeful that we can discuss this in more detail in committee to get sort of more of a breakdown on what exactly is being done, but perhaps next month when the tracker's available, that will also help us look through it in more detail. I also just wanted to note -- and I mentioned this last night with the housing Minister that we generally are still seeing that non-profits, including those helping to address homelessness, are getting the same amounts of funding year after year without accounting for inflation, and I understand that there are intentions to try to look at that and figure out how we can, like, support NGOs to give them a realistic amount of money. Can the Premier -- or the Minister give us an update on be that initiative is at and when we can expect to see non-profits start to get some increases to their funding in line with inflation and forced growth. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And the NGO support position that was referenced earlier has already begun having some of those conversations with NGOs to talk about some of those funding challenges and to hear from them. We do recognize that there has been a funding gap and that NGOs have been left behind and that in some respects that has led to certain NGOs vacating critical space and providing critical services to vulnerable people in the territory. So we're, of course, looking at for the upcoming fiscal year -- you know, across government looking for opportunities to increase funding where possible within existing budgets, but, really, more importantly, with the upcoming next year fiscal cycle look at as part of our work plan introducing more regularly scheduled forced growth cycles for NGOs as well as departments. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do think that is very important to -- you know, by next budget season, to have a very intentional system that we can show in the budget that we are planning for forced growth and inflation in the grants and contributions that we give to those non-profits providing those essential services. So I'm glad to hear that that is a goal, and I do really urge the department to prioritize this to make sure that by next year budget cycle we have that in place. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay, thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
