Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in February, I brought forward two motions on housing. The first motion moved that the Legislative Assembly acknowledge and affirm housing as a fundamental human right and that the GNWT align its existing laws and policies to be consistent with international human rights' principles and obligations.
The second motion called upon the GNWT to enact a series of specific concrete actions that would effectively codify housing as a human right in our government. The second motion calls for amendments to the Housing NWT Act to enshrine the right into legislation, establishing the NWT housing forum, establishing a territorial housing advocate review, and evaluate the outcomes of the Housing NWT Act, and that the GNWT work with the new housing forum to implement culturally appropriate housing solutions in collaboration with Indigenous governments.
Mr. Speaker, the state of housing in the North right now is in peril. Core housing need is at an alltime high, and it's much higher than the national average. And homelessness is a growing challenge for all communities. Addressing inadequacies of our housing stock and the increasing homelessness population are issues that every level of government must work on together. Our government must work closer with Indigenous governments and organizations, such as the Dene Nation and other regional community Indigenous governments, to get better results for our residents.
Overall, Mr. Speaker, our government must establish stronger wraparound supports for housing because it is important that we recognize the plaguing legacy of residential schools which drove many Indigenous people into getting stuck in a vicious cycle of being reliant on public housing and income assistance. People are trapped, and they can't get out. We must work to change these outcomes as our present housing programs and income support system is not resulting in the outcomes we want. We need an overhaul of our service to help people break free of being dependent on public housing and welfare. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
