Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this time last year I gave the House an update on housing conditions in the Nunakput region and its communities of Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, Tuktoyaktuk, and Ulukhaktok. The most recent public data from the 2014 housing survey tells us that almost 40 per cent of Nunakput households have housing problems, with about 28 per cent in core need.
Mr. Speaker, this reflects what I heard in my constituency travels recently. Housing is on everyone's minds. I heard from residents with concerns about overcrowding and others concerned by evictions taking place in the winter months, the coldest time of the year. Other residents are troubled by unsustainable costs, with public housing rates too high for those who are no longer working now that the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway is complete.
Mr. Speaker, like Northerners in other communities, Nunakput residents are also all too familiar with the pain of watching powered, heated market rental units sit empty while the community's families are on the public housing waiting list, housed in units that are not appropriate to their needs or to the standards enjoyed elsewhere in the territory.
Mr. Speaker, residents are also worried by an uptick in criminal activity and substance abuse. Mr. Speaker, things like this happen when people are dispirited and demoralized, when their situation feels inescapable and they are discouraged from taking pride in their community. It is easy to see how community morale takes a beating without the confidence that safe, secure housing can be had in a reasonable timeframe. Impacts on mental health, on family dynamics, on employment, and on education opportunities cannot be overstated.
Before Christmas, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation released its newsletter, Under One Roof. This newsletter outlined the corporation's ambitious plans for improving the services it delivers to Northerners. The situation in Nunakput is serious, Mr. Speaker, but I know too that the government's housing portfolio is led by a Minister clearly determined to make large strides. I thank her for it, because the time for action is now. Quyanainni, Mr. Speaker.