Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Yes. Madam Chair, my comment has not changed from a couple weeks ago. I was born and raised here. We have seen and still continue to see the struggles our people are going through every day especially in small communities. And I said before that this is not about us. This is about the people we serve in our region. And as an MLA, we are a public servant. And we are here to serve, you know, the public in the NWT. And that whatever the public is getting under the UNW collective agreement, that's what we should be getting as well. So for this, I stand with my colleague Rocky Simpson on this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do have issues with this as well too because we've been advocating we've been talking here in the House since I got on, about housing. We have housing crisis in small communities. We need a lot of housing. And improving the health care system in the small communities. We have a lot of aging infrastructure as well, especially in Tlicho region. And I advocated, and my previous MLA too, advocated for a new school in Tlicho region, and we have issues with youth suicide. So with all this, I don't think I'm going to support this bill as well myself. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm if housing NWT is afraid to let go of or sell any of its assets, such as its aging housing stock because the department is department is afraid to lose any operations and maintenance funding. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the housing Minister consider transferring ownership of all housing units in the Tlicho region and other regions as well that are owned by housing NWT to the longterm tenants? Thank you.

We know that a lot of people have different view on the Indigenous language, and some are saying okay, our language is dying; some are saying our language is thriving. So what I would like to see from this government is that this government should give the Aboriginal language fund to the Indigenous government because they are the authority over the language and culture, you know. They should have more say but they should give the funding to the Indigenous government. And I don't think I don't feel comfortable in support somebody from ECE having the authority over this language. So I would...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have some elders in the community who they did they entered into refinance agreement, and some of these elders are in their 70s. I mean, that should have been forgiven long time ago. I mean, that is not acceptable. That is unacceptable, Mr. Speaker. And we have some refinancing that was done with 20 years old and that the agreement is not in their name; it is in the parent's name. The family moved into the house before the child was born, and this is where they are doing refinancing agreement with a child that who got their first job. There's quite a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have mortgages that we know people cannot pay. We have a collection policy that shows our ability to forgive residents who are in this situation.

Can the Minister explain how Housing NWT administers its collection policy and how often people are assessed and forgiven from their debts based on their ability to pay those back, those debts? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Housing NWT has accumulated $16.5 million in arrears. Of that, $4.9 million is owed in mortgage payments. The role of Housing NWT is to provide safe and affordable housing to residents. It is not to set up people for failure, entering into mortgages with people only to evict them later because they cannot afford the mortgage.

Mr. Speaker, I have residents who renewed their mortgage with Housing NWT when it was clear they were unable to keep up with costs of that mortgage. I agree that we need to promote homeownership, but Housing NWT must consider a person's...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, I do have an issue with this too as well because we've been asking on Highway No. 3 to have cell service because that is the busiest highway and even you, Minister of Finance, said it before that it is a safety risk that, you know, since there's there's no cell service. I just I have a serious concern about that because we've been asking for cell service on Highway No. 3. We have a lot of incidents. We have life lost. And even last year when there was an incident on the highway, you know, like, I was talking about this young man at Boundary Creek, like, in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Youth need housing for shelter and their basic human needs. Housing is a first step for stabilizing youth and reducing loss of life. The probability of experiencing homelessness increases for youth who do not have access to housing. Youth in care are especially vulnerable if they do not have family or close relationships to support them as they transition out of care and secure housing. Youth need access to different housing options that are safe, affordable, and supportive. For example, Home Base YK Youth Dorms in Yellowknife offers programming every day and have staff...