Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, next month, after we have all gone home to our communities, we will see communities, provinces, and territories across the country recognizing National Housing Day. Since 1998, this has been considered a day of action on the urgent housing needs of many Canadians.
On November 22nd, Mr. Speaker, I hope you will remember this statement because, like so many northern communities, housing needs in the Mackenzie Delta are urgent, also.
I am talking about families on the waiting list for three years or more, with no end in sight, even with letters of support from doctors expressing the urgency of their housing needs.
I am talking about young people putting off starting families of their own because there is nowhere to live. Mr. Speaker, bucking national trends, communities in my riding are actually growing. People who left to seek work or go to school in Inuvik, Yellowknife, or Whitehorse want to come home.
The Mackenzie Delta wants to welcome them, Mr. Speaker, but the fact remains: there just are not enough houses. Thanks to an injection of federal money and a partnership with the NWT Housing Corporation, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation is introducing new units across the settlement region, but, Mr. Speaker, here's the thing: I understand these will not be additional units, instead slowly replacing stock that is aging out of the Housing Corporation's inventory. This means we will still be in a shortage, especially in Aklavik and Fort McPherson.
The NWT Housing Corporation has some existing projects under way, Mr. Speaker, but there is still a long way to go to put a roof over the heads of some of our most vulnerable residents. I will have questions for the Minister later today. Thank you.