Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d just like to speak briefly in favour of this motion. Across the land, in all the provinces and territories, the Legislatures in these jurisdictions are going to be passing motions of support to encourage the federal government to come to the table and look at extending the programs that are going to lapse, as well as help to negotiate a long-term housing strategy that will provide long-term sustainable funding.
Mr. Speaker, I’ve been the Minister of Health for five years, and I’ve been the Minister of Housing for the last eight. I’ve been to communities, and housing is probably the most critical issue that comes to people’s minds when they see government people. It outranks even health in terms of its urgency. It’s an important issue. We know that there’s not enough money; there are far more needs than there are resources.
This motion will be a signal that the Northwest Territories Legislature supports the initiative of all the other provinces and territories to try to get the federal government to engage with us so that we can stop the loss of funding, get some certainty and
get enough resources so that we can plan for the long-term future of all the citizens we represent.