Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I brought up homelessness in my riding in Nunakput and water delivery in public housing because they both intertwine. The stresses on the family and elder abuse in regards to homelessness and people not having a safe place to live.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister provide the House today, in my riding, how many safe houses that we have and if they're furnished in the communities? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Minister responsible for Homelessness.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. I don't have the number of safe homes we do have in Nunakput. But housing is available and ready to be working with Indigenous governments and with community membership. If this is something that a project that we'd like to work towards, I'm more than open to having those conversations with the community leaders if this is something that they'd want to accomplish. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just in regards to that, you know, I asked this question about, I think it was two years ago in regards to housing numbers. I need a House number and if it's furnished and they're ready to go in the community for safe housing. I have two individuals in, say for instance Tuktoyaktuk. One's living in a tent and one's living in a shack. I had another one in Paulatuk that was living in a trailer. All I need to know is this Minister, who's in charge of homelessness and housing, do we have units available for the community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was quickly trying to go through my material here to see if we have any vacancies in Nunakput. I don't have those numbers in front of me. But like I had said before, if the leadership is willing to work with us and if this is a project that they want to work towards, I'm more than open to be working towards addressing homelessness. I've done a similar project throughout the Northwest Territories. We recently worked with Hay River. We worked with Fort Simpson. We have ongoing communication with Inuvik and also with K'asho Got'ine Housing Society, so this is something that has been addressed throughout the Northwest Territories. But I'm willing to work in partnership. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, the under the homelessness strategy, we were told in this House that they do have units available in the community. And I'd like to make the Minister if she could get provide that information to me, not here today. If she could get that information so I could provide it to my leadership and to the people that are homelessness in the communities that I represent.
Also, Mr. Speaker, with the water shortage that we have in our communities in public housing, you know as well as I do that we have communities with overallocated with their children because we don't have new houses because the CMHC has a certain number of houses in the community. There's when a new House gets built, they take an old one out of the system. So there's no growth. We have a lot of young families, and you know it as well as I do, that need a place to live. And we're not going to let them go on to the street; we're going to take them in. So say, for instance, we have a family with four kids, four children, and they bring they move in with mom and dad and they're not going to get kicked out. So water delivery is so important. Is there increase in the community; is it possible for local LHOs to get an increase for water delivery to daily if there's a certain number of people that's overallocated in the unit? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And yes, we do have an increase of our housing delivery for the Northwest Territories. And I just have the numbers here.
We have four units going to be constructed in Paulatuk. We've got two that would be constructed in Ulukhaktok. And we've got four in Tuk. I don't see anything for Sachs Harbour, but I have to get back to the Member; I'm just trying to look at this very quickly.
And also for the increase of water delivery, the Member the client should be able to contact the local housing authority. I know they are budgeted according to what they receive for their utilities and services in each of the communities and if there's anything that's above and beyond that, that it would be at the charge of the client. But that's a file I can follow up on as well because I do understand there is overcrowding in each of the communities. There is couch surfing in the communities so the occupancy of these units might have increased. But I'd have to get that detail from the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final short supplementary. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I really want to thank the Minister for that, for the update for the new houses in the communities. But I really urge her and her staff to make sure that we do have units available for homelessness, and we do have extra funding going in for the LHOs, local LHOs, because it's not their fault that they don't have a House and a roof over their head. And under the United Nations Act, it's like Mr. O'Reilly told me it's 12 cups of water for a man and nine cups for a woman; I don't know what's the difference there. But we have to make this a priority for this government because the communities are hurting, and the ones that are taking the brunt of it in this situation. It's not a question. It's just I'm urging the Minister to do to do right here. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Taken as a comment. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.
