Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of housing responded to questions on data collection on the homeless population. One of her responses was astonishing and disappointing. She explained that the department does not, quote, "currently have systematic collection of data on this population to allow us to track the population over time. Not only does this make it difficult for me to tell you how many NWT residents are impacted at any point, but it also means that I do not have data on how long individuals remain homeless and what kind of housing solutions they move into."
Data is important, Mr. Speaker. It improves people's lives, informs decisionmaking, shows trends, allows us to respond to challenges before they evolve into a crisis, alerts us if we need to pivot, gains trust in stakeholders, and provides strong arguments for funding. In short, Mr. Speaker, data allows our strategies to actually be strategic.
While the government says it's committed to evidencebased decisionmaking, that appears to not be the practice at housing. It is infuriating that this is how now delivering a homelessness strategy without a baseline and clear understanding of how they are serving, who they are serving, and why.
Good data collection and analytics are a proven form of homelessness prevention. Successful homelessness strategies use data to identify people at risk of homelessness and provide support before it happens. Using this data proactively has significant bottom line impacts within the justice system, child and family services, shelters, and healthcare. But we need to know who is experiencing homelessness and why. What interventions worked, and where are people falling through the gaps. Without effective integrated data collection, we won't know the answers to these questions and be able to respond strategically.
But housing data isn't only about homelessness data. Housing NWT collects public housing tenant information based on community, income, rent calculations, arrears, but the most personal information is the breakdown of tenants by age. Mr. Speaker, this, again, doesn't clearly answer who is living in public housing and what is going on. Why do people have arrears? Are rents unpaid because of pest infestations, broken appliances, snowdrifts in the living room? Have arrears been accumulated by primary leaseholders who aren't the working partner, by seasonal workers, by women, by elders who carry a debt that is not their own?
Mr. Speaker, good data can help this government determine how to address housing. Without a baseline, we won't know if the solutions are performing and without comprehensive data, we won't know if the strategy and policy changes are simply forcing a new segment of our population into homelessness. These questions aren't just about infrastructure, income thresholds, and numbers on a waitlist. Housing is about people and to understand people, you need to understand their why. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Member for Great Slave.
