Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister responsible for Homelessness. The question is in regards to the conflicting figures that sometimes we use. The point is that homeless people are just not numbers. They are actually people, so my question is to the Minister: what steps is the Minister taking to correct the conflicting figures in terms of homelessness and to try to get a true picture, especially as it relates to engaging our federal colleagues in regard to funding on housing and homelessness. Mahsi

Mahsi. The Minister responsible for Homelessness.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To actually get an accurate count on homelessness is something that is a huge challenge, because you can just look at the shelters. You can get numbers from there. You can actually get numbers from the RCMP, but there is a whole population of hidden homelessness that is unmanageable or unrealistic to be able to count, and those include people that are youth, that are sleeping on couches, a lot of families sharing accommodations. Unless people identify as being homeless, then it's really hard to get those numbers. To get an accurate figure, I'm afraid that that would be a real challenge. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I’d like to thank the Minister for her reply. Three out of 27 communities are part of the Northern Pathway to Housing. Is the department contemplating expanding the plans to include all of the communities in the NWT, and at what point?

At this point, yes, the Northern Pathways to Housing is putting in seniors' facilities into Behchoko, Fort Simpson, and Aklavik. Actually, Fort Providence is the next community on the table. I can't guarantee whether they will be able to put homeless shelters into every community, but we will be looking at putting a homeless shelter into every region. That would be the goal at this point.

I would like to thank once again the Minister had indicated that it's actually unrealistic for us to come up with a true figure for homelessness. We've seen other jurisdictions across Canada, including the city of Medicine Hat, that set out a goal to eradicate homelessness, and they are pretty close to that reality. Is it the goal of this government to eventually eradicate homeless in NWT?

I am certain that it would be the goal of the GNWT to eradicate homelessness and to provide housing for every person in the Territories. However, would that goal be realistic would be the other problem to do. This will take time. It took a lot of time to get here. It's going to take a lot of time to fix. We are hoping that the federal government will follow through on its promise to invest in social infrastructure funding, though.

Mahsi. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, [English translation not available]. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today, I talked about the catastrophic decline in the Bathurst caribou herd, and I would like to ask a question of the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. It appears that the burden of the management responses to the decline of the Bathurst caribou herd have fallen on the resource harvesters. Can the Minister tell us what concrete actions have been taken in terms of habitat protection for the Bathurst caribou herd? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Weke'ezhii Renewable Resource Board has started public meetings on this process, starting tomorrow, I will have to take the Member's question on notice. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi. The question has been taken as notice. Oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As is in our mandate, I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation if she has had any discussions about changing housing repair programs to accommodate aging in place with her staff. Thank you.

The Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, actually. The NWT Housing Corporation is actually looking at all of our programs to see if we can make access to the programs easier, to assist in things such as land tenure. That's been an issue within the communities, so we are looking to see if we can take that out. As well, just to give notification that the NWT Housing Corporation will be sending out, in April, a survey to all of the LHOs, to all community workers, or to people that are using public housing to see what programs are working well and what we need to change, and then we will develop a plan going forward based on that information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm interested in aging in place as a concept or idea. So, specific to that, I recognize that there may be a need to change many of the housing programs. However, I was particularly interested if there have been any discussions beyond just conceptual, but discussions to a point maybe the staff are looking at some money that may be put into aging in place. Has the Minister had any discussions monetarily about how much money could be put in the budget for aging in place?

On March 10th, I will be meeting with the federal housing Minister to talk about the social infrastructure money that may be coming to the Territories. Once the federal budget is defined, then we will be able to put forward cases to look at that issue.

There was going to be a question of mine on the federal commitment. However, after March 10th, after the Minister meets with her federal counterpart, what type of plan is there in place to roll up the communications for people, so people understand what is available from the Housing Corporation in the area of aging in place?

Part of the process that we will be looking for consultation from the communities on changes to the Housing Corporation will include a summary of all of the programs, a two-page summary, very basic, very plain. Within that, we are looking to help people understand what we have and what we need to change. After we get award from the federal government, at that point we will be looking at doing a communication strategy so that people understand what programs are available.

Mahsi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not sure that we had ruled out our mandate relying on federal commitments on social infrastructure in order to move forward with our mandate. In our mandate, we say aging in place is a priority. I gave some of the numbers here on why it should be a priority, the amount of money we would save even in the capital construction or just in the people who are in long-term care now versus what it would cost to keep people at home, the health of the individuals, the elders that remain in their own homes, and so on. I am interested in that. Have there been discussions on aging in place, not all the programs on aging in place, with the staff from the Minister? Thank you.

Absolutely. Yes, there have been discussions on aging in place. The GNWT is really supportive of our seniors and supportive of them living within their communities and within their homes and families as long as possible. That is a priority for us. We have talked many times about the incidence of seniors increasing, and so we will be developing a plan to be able to support aging in place as long as possible.

Mahsi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.