Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, before I give my statement today, I would like to join the Premier in congratulating the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation on their celebration of the 40th Anniversary of signing the Inuvialuit Final Agreement. And to my colleagues and friends in Inuvik, have a great day and I wish I was there participating today and flipping hamburgers with them. So have a great day up there.
Mr. Speaker, I too will speak to housing today. Mr. Speaker, long waitlists for NWT residents when assessing public housing is an ongoing issue that has been raised numerous times in this House. Housing affordability and adequacy are the biggest housing challenges facing the residents of Inuvik. When people can't afford homes or the homes are not adequate, they turn to public housing.
Mr. Speaker, we know there are many people who are on public housing waitlists and, in some cases, these people are waiting years to get into public housing, but this is not publicly reported in Housing NWT's annual reports.
The Minister of housing stated in this House in 2021 that Inuvik had 73 people on the waitlist. On March 31st, 2021, the Minister of housing tabled a unit status report. In this document, it notes that there are 239 public housing units in Inuvik and 226 were occupied. At that time, Mr. Speaker, there were 13 units sitting empty 11 were noted as needing repairs and 73 people were patiently waiting for housing units to come available.
Mr. Speaker, on April 23rd, 2024, Housing NWT signed a collaborative agreement on housing with the Gwich'in Tribal Council. In this agreement, repairs and renovations are identified under possible areas of joint coordination. Mr. Speaker, this is encouraging news. I trust that through this initiative, Housing NWT will be addressing the empty units needing repairs in Inuvik and that there are policies in place that ensure the priority for elders and people living with disabilities to access these units, Mr. Speaker.
On a positive note, it is the trend that more Inuvik clients are accessing homeownership programs and, Mr. Speaker, if we can find a way to provide some economic activity in these regions and our territory, I am sure that that number will climb. But we must, Mr. Speaker, ensure that if we're serious about solving our housing crisis, if it is, indeed, one of our government's top priorities, we must ensure that the units we own are maintained to an adequate living level. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Members' statements. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
