So many lakes, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, can the Premier please explain if our main focus and strategy moving forward with transitional and supportive housing is only with building new stock with federal dollars, or will other opportunities being considered? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. All opportunities to expand our transitional housing stock will be explored, whether that is renovation of existing units that we come into possession of or whether it is the development of new units, we're open to doing whatever we need to do to make things happen. We're not going to limit ourselves to one, you know -- to one way of procuring these units. And so in -- recently, we've done some more temporary measures. So the on-the-land camp, we are looking to set up a temporary transitional housing unit until we can get something more permanent in place as well. And so I hope to be able to, you know, have something on the ground built here in Yellowknife and in the coming years, and it's -- you know, this is a territorial-wide issue. We've been working with NGOs, and Yellowknife has been identified as a location where we can do this work now and make some serious impacts, and so that's why the efforts have been focused in that region. And we're also exploring opportunities to partner with NGOs and Indigenous governments as well. There's no reason the GNWT has to be doing this work alone. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm the daughter of a journeyman electrician, so I know that existing multi-dwelling housing stock in the territory is not always up to snuff or code and can require major upgrades or overhauls. So can the Premier tell me whether in conversations with -- led by EIA with those partners that he just spoke of around existing housing stock, are renovations proving to be cost prohibitive to proceed with more renovation-based housing projects like Aspen Apartment or Nordic Arms? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so it sounds like the Member's aware that once you start renovating something, once you open those walls, you never know what you're going to find, and there could be extraordinary costs that you don't expect. That being said, if there are units that lend themselves to potential renovations, we can have a look at those and do our best to figure out whether or not we might run into some of those issues, and then they go from there. So we don't want to write anything off without even looking into it.
When it comes to the transitional housing piece -- I don't want to speak to social housing, but when it comes to transitional housing, there could be some more requirements for the builds if there needs to be wraparound spaces, if there are supports, or other types of supports that could lead to some increased costs as well. So that's all very specific about what units we might be looking at if it's something we're looking to renovate and what is the -- how do we want to use those units. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the Premier's staff have let me know in writing that the regional partnership will be the means used to implement the NWT homelessness strategy here in Yellowknife. So many former members of that -- of an ad hoc working group on the encampment last summer are part of that table. So, Mr. Speaker, can the Premier tell me if the options that are identified by these partners are also being considered in the near to mid term for transitional and supportive stock? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, and it's actually the regional partnership that really put the focus on Yellowknife. And so, you know, we're already working with them, taking their advice and insight. Of course, when you work at an NGO and you are doing this work on a daily basis day in and day out you have a lot of expertise and insight and, of course, we want to leverage that and work with these organizations. So not every organization's priorities will align with each other’s, and so going forward there will be some -- you know, partners who are probably happier with what we are doing and some partners who might not be as happy with what we're doing, but regardless we'll continue to do that work. There will be a meeting in early March of the regional partnership and again in early April, and that will include NGOs, the city of Yellowknife, and we'll be using those opportunities to build on the work that's already started and discuss the studies that have been undertaken and any plans that might be underway to see how we can better work together and improve any projects that any of us collectively are working on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake. Got the lake right this time.
