Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on February 11th, the Member of Parliament for the Northwest Territories, Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Minister responsible for Youth, was in Yellowknife to formally celebrate the signing of an agreement between the Homelessness Coalition and the federal government, which makes more than $790,000 available for projects aimed at the homeless. This is truly timely.
I would like to extend my congratulations to the Homelessness Coalition, which is now a partnership of more than 15 agencies, both non-government and government, on how they have moved the strategy along. This is only because of unprecedented cooperation among the non-government agencies in particular.
Our Member of Parliament commented on the partnership and reinforced that this organization is so effective because of the nature of their partnership. It is working effectively to address a problem that reaches across the mandate of all agencies involved.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories made a welcome move by agreeing to have the NWT Housing Corporation formally join the coalition. Having a senior official participate has been very helpful.
With the funding now in place, the coalition is now looking for a community housing coordinator. They will soon be ready to review proposals and put the money to work helping the homeless.
Mr. Speaker, homelessness remains a critical issue. The YWCA of Yellowknife currently operates the only transitional housing for families in Yellowknife and those 20 units are always full. There is a waiting list so homeless families are being turned away.
Mr. Speaker, one of the first initiatives that the coalition will undertake will see two coalition partners taking over houses that will be renovated and used for transitional housing to help people progress into the wage economy.
Mr. Speaker, in a Member's statement in a previous session, I asked Premier Kakfwi to appoint a Minister responsible for homelessness. In response to questions that day, he said he would commit to giving us a response before this session of the House began. I recognize that the Premier was travelling with Team Canada before this session and has been away for a while so he missed the opportunity to follow through on that promise.
Mr. Speaker, given the growing number of homeless people in the North, I hope he will commit today to name a Member of Cabinet responsible for the issue of homelessness. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be following up on this issue in question period.
-- Applause