Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today I talked about the need for innovation in housing and how it might meet some of our serious housing needs here in the Northwest Territories, and in particular I spoke about tiny housing. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, we know that tiny housing will help with housing of singles. It, of course, helps reduce the cost of living and helps us meet some of our affordability goals, and, of course, it has a great impact of preserving the environment and, in particular, reducing our carbon footprint.
Can the Minister tell us if the Housing Corporation has had any discussion about tiny housing and the possibilities of the Housing Corporation investing in tiny housing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for NWT Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It seems like I'm getting up and down a lot; I want to remind Members it's anti-bullying day.
We have looked at the idea of tiny houses, Mr. Speaker, in seriousness to the Member's question. We are bound, however, by national building codes and our own standards around energy efficiency, so those are issues that we are conscious of, but we have made agreements with some municipalities to actually explore some options around tiny houses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for her reply. Mr. Speaker, recently the City of Yellowknife conducted a survey last spring and some of the results of the survey indicated that folks were fairly supportive of tiny housing and in promoting some development of tiny housing. I wonder if the Minister can indicate whether the Housing Corporation's survey had any questions along the lines specifically toward tiny housing?
At this point the survey is starting to be compiled. It's still open for feedback, as I agreed to leave it open for the extra month, so I haven't seen all the results for the survey, but I do make an assumption that tiny houses will be one of the issues on that survey.
I appreciate the Minister's reply. I know that tiny housing seems to be a fairly significant conversation going around the territory. Not just in Yellowknife; I've heard it in other communities, and so I expect that there will be some responses on the survey relevant to tiny housing.
I guess at this point can we get some kind of commitment from the Minister that tiny housing can be put on the Housing Corporation's kind of, call it, agenda for consideration, at least for future consideration? It just has so many positives for checking off so many of the goals and objectives that we're trying to achieve as a government. Will the Minister commit to that?
I can absolutely commit that tiny houses will be one of the areas that we look at, and go further to stating that we are looking at developing partnerships with municipalities and Aboriginal governments to address their own housing needs within their communities, and we are already forming partnerships with some municipalities on a form of a tiny house.
As the corporation, though, I do want to stress that my own worry is that when we only look at tiny houses within an independent, solo idea, then we're not perhaps looking at the cost of living and the energy efficiency. So I am also looking at ideas that we can use, things like shared boiler systems to address the cost of living and the energy efficiency.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I'm glad to hear from the Minister that some effort has already been under way with regard to working with communities and municipalities in this effort. As the Minister even alluded to earlier, there could be some challenges around building codes and the like. Will the Minister commit to working with her colleagues to make sure that red tape and regulations that would stymie this good opportunity can actually be reviewed and given full consideration so that we can actually work towards some successful development in tiny houses? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I can commit to working with my colleagues to actually look at how we can address red tape within housing standards, but I also should make the Speaker aware that some of the red tape will be on behalf of municipalities because the municipalities will have to make sure that their bylaws accommodate for tiny houses as well, and that I have no say over.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
