Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, housing is in crisis. Lack of adequate and suitable housing has forced families to sacrifice safety, mental wellness, and sobriety; has meant more children in government care; and impedes education levels and education rates.
This is not news to the 900 Northerners on housing wait lists or the thousands living in core need, meaning their home needs repairs, is overcrowded, or unaffordable.
We have one of the highest levels of core housing need in the country, where over 50 percent of housing in NWT communities requires major repairs.
The success of healthy, inclusive, creative communities starts with housing as a human right.
The UN Declaration of Human Rights assures everyone the right to housing and a dignified standard of living. The UN declaration of the rights of Indigenous peoples invokes self-determination in health, economic and social sufficiency, and housing.
Housing is a key pillar to the United Nation's sustainable development goals and the international covenant on economic social and cultural rights. The emerging international and green new plans recognize housing as critical to the knowledge economy and climate-sensitive industrial system. Canada's first national housing strategy identifies Indigenous housing as a priority and set aside $40 billion to meet their ambitious goals.
With so many people saying all the right things, why is this not translating to housing for remote northern Indigenous communities and an elimination of core need in our territory?
This Assembly is adding 90 new public housing units to its stock. This is the largest increase in housing stock that the NWT has seen in decades. But if we add 90 housing units in every term, it will take 36 years to fulfill our housing waitlist. I will be 75 years. The MLA for Nunakput will be 84 and the MLA for Frame Lake will be 99.
Building new homes has also become more expensive due to labor shortages and supply chain disruptions. In addition, the NWT continues to lose valuable CMHC maintenance funding every year without a plan to replace it. This crisis is snowballing, and we need a plan to address this now, in our generation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.
