Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services is not the only department working on this and we are not going to be able to solve the problem, but we can be part of the solution, working with communities, working with other departments.In Yellowknife, there are a couple of things that were identified at the housing forum, the homelessness forum, that was held a couple weeks ago. Some areas for critical work that we're working on is addressing the shelter hour gap here in Yellowknife, that's one of the issues that was identified. We anticipate this might require some additional funding, which we'll be coming back to have discussions with committee.
We also want to be able to make sure that the program that the city is proposing involves properly, as I've already indicated, and that we're working closely with the city. We also need to explore options for harm reductions programs to support clients in Yellowknife, including things like a wet shelter or a managed drinking program, and work with other partners to see how this might fit into the roadmap for action. Once we've done that work and we've applied it in Yellowknife where we have real demand, it is something that we certainly can look at exploring in other communities and regions throughout the Northwest Territories, but we do have to start somewhere. I can also say that the Housing Corp. is currently working to provide some shelters in communities outside of Yellowknife; they're looking at Aklavik, Fort Simpson, and Behchoko right now. Work is happening, Mr. Speaker. More work is required. It's going to take the will of both sides of this House to get this done and it's going to take some creativity and partnerships with cities, communities, hamlets, as well as other governments.