Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for that comment about the 20 people and another in 2019. The City of Yellowknife has actually put forward in a meeting with the city

councillors

and the Yellowknife MLAs that they would be piloting one person this fiscal year. They also put it in their June 3rdin the media that they would be housing one person within this fiscal year to begin with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think it's important that if this government is to invest in a real solution for homelessness, that we have a full understanding of all the options available to us. Housing First remains a viable option, and there's a big difference between building new shelter spaces and empowering people with their own homes. I'm wondering if the Minister today will commit to reconsider her plan and commit to matching the current funding for Housing First so we can address more of the critically chronic homeless who are in need and using 51 per cent of our emergency services.

The Minister is committed to addressing homelessness. We have put forward our agreement to partner with the city of Yellowknife within their Housing First model of housing one person, hopefully within the next three years to get 20 people in.

However, coming from this community, I know that if we were to only sit back and support only one agency providing one model, it probably would not be the most efficient use of our funds. To house one person within the community would not make a significant dent, and the other model would provide for 30 people. I must say that the other model is following a Housing First model as well, because Housing First does not only belong to the city.; It belongs to whoever wants to use it. We won't be building… Even though the shelters will be using it, the location of the units will be separate.

There is already one agency within Yellowknife, actually, that does use the model that we are looking at, and that is the YWCA within their Rockhill. They have done this model for many years and they have shown it is successful, so if we have a model that is successful within our community, why would we not duplicate that so we can get more people into housing?

Certainly, the Minister is an expert in this field, and I respect her expertise, but I also am a Yellowknifer and I know that this problem is only getting worse, and when you look at the evidence-tested, proven methods that have worked across the country, Housing First is a clear model, a specific model that gives consumer choice and empowers people. That's what we are talking about today. I am wondering if the Minister will clarify her comments yesterday that this plan to expand the shelters to house 30 people. Construction will begin in the summer is what the Minister said yesterday. Can the Minister clarify if these are new beds or homeless spaces that are being constructed, or if it is existing beds and they are providing more dollars to the shelters to care for more people?

As most Members may be aware, once the move goes into Housing First, then we are at risk of actually jeopardizing the emergency shelters. Emergency shelters will always be a necessity within the homeless population, especially in the North because we have such a transient population, so if I was to go out and put every single person into a house today, by tomorrow, perhaps even this evening, we would have more people.

My obligation is as we move forward in the Housing First model, we need to make sure that our emergency shelters are sustainable, and through that, if they are only based on the amount that they are given now per bed night, then that is not a sustainable model. The second part of his question, will these be extra funding to the emergency shelters? The money will not go into the emergency shelter component. We are looking at totally different spaces for the shelters, and similar, I will again now use the agency that has showed the success within our community. The YWCA does have a family violence shelter, and separate from that, they have the Rockhill apartments, which is again a successful model of housing families. We are looking at a similar model to house men and females so that these shelters are sustainable and that Housing First is actually a model we are using, so totally separate from the emergency shelter, but within the same facilities that provide those services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To clarify, I don't think this is an and/or solution we need to look at. Shelters serve a very important role. Housing First is a separate model. Both are equally important, and it's about being compassionate. Everything costs money, of course, but we need to think about the compassion and supporting Northerners and empowering them to make positive choices. That's what we are talking about today with Housing First. It's a proven model that works, gets people back on their feet, and solves a real problem in our community, in our capital city. That is what I am fighting for, and I hope the Minister is hearing me loud and clear and seeing the good work the city of Yellowknife is doing.

Just to clarify, will new construction be going on to create these new 30 spaces? Is it new construction or is it using the existing space? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Compassion is really important within the homeless population. I do adhere to the Housing First model, but I also recognize that within the North, we have other models that are successful, so I give credit to that. It's important to have a northern perspective on northern solutions.

The final part to that question is absolutely yes, the units that we are going to be building for the semi-independent living will not be in the emergency shelter area. They are totally separate from the emergency shelter, and they will be independent units for homeless people, for chronic homeless people.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice, who conveniently is also the Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my Member’s statement, transparency and openness has been an overarching theme of political life in the NWT through the past Assembly and last fall's election. This Assembly has taken steps to recognize and address those themes.

One important way we did that is enshrined the commitment 5.3.11 of the mandate document that identifies a commitment to developing legislation within two years to establish an Office of an Ombudsman. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister if the Department of Justice has begun the work referenced in that commitment to develop the legislation to establish an independent parliamentary office of the ombudsman. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Justice

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government is committed to fulfilling the priorities developed by the 18thAssembly, including exploring options for the creation of the position of ombudsman. The Department of the Executive and the Department of Justice are working together to develop options for the establishment of this position. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to go on with my questions, but quite frankly, I have to stop and ask for clarification from the Minister. Can the Minister elaborate a little bit more for us on what exploring options actually consists of?

I am pleased to do so, Mr. Speaker. There is work underway to develop materials to support a discussion by the caucus. We are having a summer meeting where this is one of the issues that is to be discussed, so we are exploring options. There are many different models in Canada. As the Member quite correctly pointed out, there are nine provinces, all of them except Prince Edward Island, I think, and the Yukon that have developed this position. However, the position is different in every jurisdiction. We need to look at options and decide which models we wish to follow. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I understand that a draft Ombudsman Act was prepared on behalf of the Members of the 17thAssembly and was tabled in this House. I think in that effort, there were probably a lot of options considered. Can the Minister advise whether the department intends to use that act to inform this work? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes. There was a draft proposal which was prepared in the last Assembly which I had the opportunity of reading, but I believe that the first step would be for us all to decide which model we wish to follow, and at that point, legislation will be brought forward.

As I mentioned earlier, there are many different models. There is the Quebec model for one, which is a very extensive, expensive model, and others that are more limited. The cost has been found to be between perhaps half a million dollars at the minimum and multi-millions of dollars at the maximum. It's to be determined whether we will follow the model, and I haven't reviewed that draft piece of legislation lately, but that is perhaps one of the models that we may follow, but that is yet to be determined. Thank you.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and what I gather from the Minister is that there is a lot of work yet to be done. Mr. Speaker, how will the Minister commit to keeping Members of the Assembly apprised of the progress that this legislation is required? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Minister of Justice.

Well, of course part of that will be determined by our discussions this summer, and of course, I will keep the House apprised. We will keep the House apprised as the legislation moves forward. We are hoping to look at a series of options in the summer, choose the best option, and that would be reflected in the legislation that we will bring to this House. Thank you.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. As I stated earlier this afternoon, my constituents are concerned with the lack of information on this year's harvest from ITI. How does the department plan to engage with the communities to help manage the activity in the Deh Cho this year regarding the mushroom harvest? Mahsi.

Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.