Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Cost of Living

Housing is at the root of difficulties we face in addressing the cost of living. Without housing security, many Northerners face severe challenges in seeking and securing education or employment, in maintaining and fostering their health, and in raising happy, healthy families. We cannot expect prospective new residents to make their homes in communities where homes are not both available or affordable. Together we have made significant strides, and the NWT Housing Corporation has fulfilled its mandate commitments to date. Nevertheless, our territory's housing crisis has only deepened and we must revise our approach. The Housing Corporation's budget has been reduced over the last two years, while our constituents, our neighbours, are sometimes living in terrible conditions, overcrowded and lacking continuous heat and/or running water. This Legislative Assembly must take action, and our mandate must reflect the urgent need to find a solution. We must add to public housing stock, complete aging in place renovations in seniors' and elders' homes, and ensure that local housing organizations are supported by functioning boards. With renewed federal interest in housing, this should be a priority of our engagement with Canada. Increased support for the Nutrition North program and indexing of northern resident deductions to inflation are also mandate items in need of attention.

Efforts to reduce the cost of living are closely tied to commitments related to the economy, environment, and climate change, and to education, training, and youth development. The current and previous Assemblies have identified areas where the cost of living could be reduced, with lower rates for electricity, improved community infrastructure and connectivity, increased food security, improved childcare cost and availability, access to sustainable, adequate, and affordable housing, and reduced dependence on imported fossil fuels. Overall, progress on mandate commitments has been limited. Although a difficult task, the NWT has the collective capacity to work toward solutions. Indeed, there is no other option but to do so. We risk further population decline and the subsequent dwindling of the territory's revenue base and already limited economies of scale, driven by the high cost of living and compounded by changes in the climate and the economy. If meaningful progress is made in these areas, the 18th Assembly will have achieved critical objectives and set the stage to reduce the cost of living for the long term.

Community Wellness and Safety

Housing, family violence, and services for seniors are among the most serious matters facing the NWT within the social envelope. Work on these matters must focus on systemic improvement and grassroots action. The committee has seen significant work on mental health, particularly youth mental health, but Members remain concerned that the tendency toward frameworks and action plans will continue to unnecessarily delay critical action. All Members are committed to supporting Northerners to age in place in the comfort and security of their homes and communities. Similarly, we know that all Members understand the urgency of looming long-term care capital needs. The committee commends the Department of Health and Social Services for its detailed analysis of these needs and its plan to prepare, including tackling chronic conditions to reduce future demand for long-term care. However, the plan for continuing care is now long overdue and holding up urgent action and spending. In the here and now, the government must ensure that all 18th Assembly funding allocated to aging in place is spent for that purpose, including both home renovation programs and homecare supports.

As we are all too aware, the territory has the second-highest rate of police-reported family violence in the country. Such violence bars women and children from their human right to safety, security, and free participation in public life. The evaluation and renewal of the A New Day healing program for men who use violence in intimate partner relationships has been a failure. Service continuity has been disrupted, stakeholders and clients alienated, and a largely successful program fundamentally altered. Regular Members have advocated strongly for this program and will continue to do so, and we must also concentrate on the roots of family violence, misogyny, colonization, and the residential school experience, as well as economic inequality. Northern youth are intelligent, resourceful, courageous, and resilient. Once again, the committee cannot overstate our collective need to tackle systemic problems such as food security, the housing crisis, low employment, and poverty, not simply symptoms such as poor health or low educational achievement. Poverty cannot be escaped simply through changes in attitude; there must be investment to bring about change, especially for young people who are disproportionately affected. Northern youth and young families do not deserve the burden of making the best of a bad situation. Instead, we must together improve their situation; greater collaboration between departments is required.

Although the mandate did not include implementation of 911 emergency telephone service in the NWT, Members requested funding for it during the review of the 2017-2018 business plans. Members acknowledge the positive response by Cabinet, resulting in $616,000 for 911 implementation this year and ongoing operational funding. At this point, I would like to turn the report to the Member for Hay River North. Mahsi.