Debates of February 23, 2024 (day 9)

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Statements

Question 88-20(1): Housing

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department has policies and that these policies are determined on seemed to be determined open a waitlist. Policies should be based on family needs. A family of four should have precedent over a smaller family. Will the Minister look at revisiting its current policies in terms of housing allocations to meet the needs of these families? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Speaker: MR. SPEAKER

Thank you, Member from Mackenzie Delta. Minister of Housing NWT.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. We do have policies in place. It depends on waitlists, housing availability, the size of the household itself, the application itself. So we review these things. I don't know if we need to change these policies, but this is something that we can consider and have a conversation with the Member. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think more of these consultations should be taken out to the residents of the Northwest Territories. Will the department look at meeting with the residents of the Northwest Territories to get feedback on its policies? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, housing in the communities is operated through the local housing associations. So we have housing associations in most of our communities. We also hold annual general meetings with the associations annually. So this is an opportunity for residents, if they do have concerns with housing, to attend the AGMs to have this conversation with the local housing associations so they can talk to district, and they can also talk to the Ministers and deputy ministers about these policies so that message is carried on. If there is concerns, they also can speak to you as MLA and also speak to the tenant relations officer. So there's many opportunities for residents to speak about concerns that they have with certain housing policies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the general public has lost confidence in the housing local housing authorities because they themselves have to follow these policies. Will the Minister look at doing a consultation round with the residents of the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hope they haven't lost confidence because these are local agencies and these are local people that fill these positions, so it's important to have that conversation locally. And I'm willing to talk to residents. We are planning a tour of the Mackenzie Delta in April and I'm willing to have that conversation directly with any residents. So happy and looking forward to it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Speaker: MR. SPEAKER

Minister of Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to the tour with the Minister. Thank you, and that's just a general comment. Thank you.

Speaker: MR. SPEAKER

Thank you. Please, folks, if you don't have a final supplementary just advise me so we can get on to the next one. Thank you.

Oral questions. Member from Range Lake or sorry, Frame Lake. Yes, Frame Lake. Sorry, my fault.