Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recall the Minister of Housing saying she wanted a homeless shelter in each region. What communities have shelters at this point in time already? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently, at this point in time, the only communities within the Northwest Territories that have actual homeless shelters are Inuvik, Yellowknife, and Fort Smith. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
My second question is: what communities is the Minister putting new shelters in this year?
During the current fiscal year, actually, we are building fourplex shelters within the communities of Aklavik, Behchoko, and Fort Simpson.
Now narrowing it down to the Central Mackenzie, the only region left without a homeless shelter is the Sahtu region. What is the Minister going to do in this area?
I did say in the House here that one of my goals before I have finished my position with the Government of the Northwest Territories is to ensure that we have homeless shelters in every region, so we have reached out to the region of the Sahtu and, through that process, we received two proposals.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As mentioned by my colleague next to me in his Member's statement, being innovative took the community of Deline to create their own shelter for the homeless. My question is: when will the Minister build a homeless shelter in the Sahtu? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to report that, actually, we will be looking at the Sahtu to build a homeless shelter within the next coming fiscal year. Both proposals, we were actually excited to receive and we were able to accommodate. One of the proposals was only for more of a dropin day shelter idea, so they can access some food security funding to accommodate that. The other proposal actually will be an overnight shelter, so it's really exciting to say that, within the next fiscal year, we will have a homeless shelter in every single region within the Northwest Territories and to be able to say that we can accommodate both proposals.
Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
