Lucy Kuptana

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was two questions to that question. So the first question was on assets that the Northwest Territories or the Housing NWT holds and what the plans are for those homes, if I'm not mistaken.

From what I understand, we have over 300 homes that are 50 years and older, so Housing NWT is doing a review on those homes. And we also have many homes that are 30 years and older, so another we need to do another review on that.

In terms of the second question, I don't have that detail right now, but I can provide the Member information offline as well. Thank you...

Thank you, again, to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So Housing NWT continues to advance a multiyear capital plan which includes the construction and repair of over 500 housing units. The scale of this work ranges from modernization and improvement projects for housing assets in the communities to new construction, including duplexes for seniors and a large multiunit residential building plan for Yellowknife. These 500 units include 100 new public housing units for the territory. Of these hundred units, all are either under construction or complete. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for raising this issue. The Member is correct that the NWT social housing agreement signed in 1997 allocated $21.2 million in annual operational funding to support the delivery of the Northwest Territories Public Housing Program. The funding has declined and is scheduled to be fully exhausted by 20382038.

Since 2019, Housing NWT has been able to mitigate these annual funding declines with funding supports provided under a new bilateral agreement with CMHC. The funding under this agreement is being used to offset the decline in CMHC funding up...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the supports that Housing NWT provides is they offer tenants opportunities to enter into payment plans if their issue is related to arrears. Housing NWT also reviews the rent calculations if there's a concern, if they have income changes. Say, they lost a job or they're starting another job with a different income level. So Housing NWT may refer tenants to other social services or health resources if the client is facing complaints from neighbours or is also to seek out additional assistance to avoid losing their home. And then Housing NWT also seeks out alternative...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for the question. I think this is an educational process because we deal with evictions, but it's few and far between with public housing. So public rental evictions are dealt with under the Residential Tenancies Act. So the local housing association makes a tenant aware of their violation, seeks the agreement with the tenant to resolve the issue. When all reasonable efforts are exhausted, the LHO issues a termination of tenancy notice and submits an application to the rental office. The rental office may try to remediate and may set a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, housing in the communities is operated through the local housing associations. So we have housing associations in most of our communities. We also hold annual general meetings with the associations annually. So this is an opportunity for residents, if they do have concerns with housing, to attend the AGMs to have this conversation with the local housing associations so they can talk to district, and they can also talk to the Ministers and deputy ministers about these policies so that message is carried on. If there is concerns, they also can speak to you as...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to offer condolences to the recent passings in the Nunakput riding over the last month. First, the loss of Joseph Haluksit in Ulukhaktok, a respected elder and community leader who I had the distinction of sitting with on the Inuvialuit Communications Society. Condolences to Elsie and family in Ulukhaktok.

Next is the loss of Sandy Wolki, a respected elder, harvester and musician, who was also one of our few Inuvialuktun language leaders left, someone who we all turned to when we needed support in advancing an Inuvialuktun language initiative, a wealth of...

I have no further questions, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a question for Mr. Hawkins and the staff. Why the change to the why the change to the bill was made, if you can explain that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So for a tenant to avoid eviction, they can do the following things: The best thing a tenant can do is to maintain communication with the local housing association and then show that they're serious about complying with their tenancy agreement. That can be including adjusting their behaviours to reduce complaints about noise and disturbances, after 11 o'clock especially, and reducing or setting up a payment plan to pay down their debts to housing. If a rental officer hearing is set, it is important to attend and tell your story. So it's really important they attend the...