Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to speak to you today about the state of housing on the Hay River reserve. The problem is, I don't know what else I can say. I have told you that my constituents have come to me in frustration and despair. Families are forced to choose between separation, with young people leaving the community to find housing, or overcrowding, with inadequate homes degrading the fabric of family life. We have tried to work with the GNWT. We have tried to work with the federal government. We have been patient, and yet the situation has not materially changed.

At a constituency meeting in the Hay River Reserve last month, residents shared the concerns of overcrowding and the disappointment of the failure to progress on this file. I know the Minister is making an effort, Mr. Speaker, and I thank her for that. I know that dealing with the federal government on these units isn't easy. We are still waiting on six units while the 10 units now under the Housing Corporation remain empty. This just isn't an administrative problem loading up on someone's desk in Yellowknife or Ottawa. This is far more than paperwork at stake. We are talking about people's lives, their dignity, and their rights as Indigenous people under Treaty 8 and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people.

It is 2018. Indigenous people need adequate housing. While Canada and the GNWT are calm in the seas of bureaucracy, both are failing to provide the leadership necessary to address this critical need. A handful of units, Mr. Speaker; that is all it would take to change the lives of residents of the Hay River Reserve forever. Surely, that is not too much to ask. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.