Kate Reid

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll try to be even more clear. Do you anticipate that the secretariats will remain as they are under a theoretical ADM, or do you want them to be divisions? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. I'm hoping maybe she could share some of that so we can give the feedback.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain what Housing NWT's relationship is in the day to day with NGOs who provide emergency shelter and transitional supportive housing to residents and whether any permanent funding arrangements or partnerships can be made between such organizations and Housing NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you, Minister, for that. I guess I'll talk to her when I get to capital.

Shifting gears, looking at what we have been discussing yesterday a little bit about the ADM position, I don't really want to revisit that discussion per se. I do kind of want to just talk in general about the secretariats, both of them. They are both  well, I mean, the French language secretariat is seeing a slight increase but is down since 20222023, and the Indigenous language secretariat is also down not insignificantly.

Insofar as that dollar amount is lower and we're looking at...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that answer.

Mr. Speaker, in the 19th Assembly, there was a commitment to create a hundred units for vulnerable persons in the life of that Assembly, which was noted to be the first expansion of public housing stock in decades. I thank the Minister for clarifying this past February that those units should be completed this summer.

Can the Minister please explain if Housing NWT intends to seek further federal funding to make similar investments into our public housing stock during the life of this Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair, and sorry to the Member from Range Lake. I didn't mean to steal his thunder.

Culture and Heritage, very near and dear to my heart. It's where I started out as a public servant. Could the Minister explain the reduction of about $200,000? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I am joining many of my colleagues and will speak to the theme of housing.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that public housing can be a net good and benefit for our communities, but it must be supported within a framework that allows for collective pride and a cooperative approach. I also believe in providing smart investments into the maintenance of public housing such as retrofits and new builds as needed and where appropriate. But part of the problem here is that the fact that the federal government has continuously cut funding into public housing...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, really, just one more question. Can the Minister speak to the engagement and promotion and discussions in a general way. I don't want her, you know, speaking to anything confidential, really. It's just, as she noted, I am super keen to see where ECE can go with this, and I'm interested to see where ECE can go with our federal partners on this and looking at those new pathways. So is there anything she can speak to on timelines or big dreams she might have, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So excuse me for one quick second here as I find the pages on the business plan I'd like to refer to quickly.

In the business plan on page 15, the department speaks to supporting pathways to employment for NWT youth through SNAP and specifically talks about measures of number of high school students participating in SNAP program as students.

I don't have any particular issue with that but what I would like the Minister to speak to is if her department has thought about other pathways to career education within the JK to 8 segment. I heard a lot from folks on the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So just to clarify, then, can the Minister explain if she expects to need more than what is currently funded? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So as my colleague from Monfwi has spoken to, very passionately in this House on many a time, there is a concern, I think, around the lack of funding for the senior home heating subsidy. So especially for elders who are on limited incomes. And I can see that in the main estimates from 20232024 and the revised estimates, there is a difference of approximately 500 and change thousand dollars, and now the main estimates for 20242025 have gone back down. Does the Minister wish to speak to whether she thinks that's adequate? Thank you.