Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement talked about women in Yellowknife who are working on behalf of NWT women and homelessness, and I’d like to ask some questions of the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services about the government’s homelessness framework. I’ve been trying for some months, actually more than 12, to try and get some information on the updating of the homelessness framework, but I was recently advised that no update is in the works. So I’d like to ask the Minister if he can advise when this homelessness framework will be reviewed, revised and updated so that it is more suitable to our current needs. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. From what I understand, there’s a homelessness interdepartmental government homelessness working group. As well, there’s a strategy and framework that’s led by the Homelessness Coalition in Yellowknife. So that work is underway, and I don’t have a specific time that I could give the Member as to when that particular initiative will be concluded. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister for that response. I’m a little surprised to hear that we have a Homelessness Coalition led by the City of Yellowknife, which basically works for facilities within the city of Yellowknife, that that is leading a strategy, which, if I understand the Minister correctly, is going to be GNWT strategy or policy. So I’d like to ask the Minister, if my understanding is correct, could he explain what he meant by the strategy is being developed by the Homelessness Coalition? Thank you.
This particular document will have application, we believe, outside of the city of Yellowknife. It’s an issue in the city. We have our own interdepartmental working group, as well, that looks at concerns of homelessness outside of the city of Yellowknife. Thank you.
Thank you. I’m getting more and more confused all the time. So it now sounds like we have a strategy that’s going to apply to the city of Yellowknife, which may be useful outside the city of Yellowknife for the rest of the Territories, but we have something else which is going to determine stuff outside Yellowknife. I really don’t understand the answer.
The Minister mentioned an interdepartmental homelessness committee, which sounds rather like the committee doesn’t have a home, but I believe they work on the issue of homelessness. I’d like to know from the Minister what their function is and how often they meet. Thank you.
They meet on an ongoing basis. They’ve fed their work into the business planning process. It includes departments like Health, MACA, Housing, to name some that have a role to play, and we look at funding for the City of Yellowknife, the shelters that are out there and homelessness in the smaller communities where there is no other capacity, and we try to deal with things on a one-by-one case basis. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thanks, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister. I think, again, I’m not exactly sure that I understand what their function and role is. The Minister mentioned one of situations that this group deals with and I believe that’s the Homelessness Assistance Fund, which is supposed to help people. As I read from a document, “the Homelessness Assistance Fund supports and prevents individuals from becoming homeless in the NWT.” If that’s the case, I need to ask the Minister why in recent months a family of four was basically refused a minor amount of funding, $600 I believe, which would have kept them from being tossed out of their current housing. Thank you.
I’m not in a position to answer such a broad question where there are no specifics. I don’t know what the issue was. I don’t know where it was. I don’t know the background information. I can only assume that everything was done according to policy and procedure, but I’m not in a position to answer that type of question without some considerable more detail.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
