Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have often spoken about the critical need for housing in my region. Today I would like to focus on a particular need for transitional housing.
Historically, transitional housing has been focused in our larger communities through organizations like Inuvik Transition House or the YWCA here in Yellowknife. Homelessness isn't a problem limited to the regional centres. Residents themselves have made their voice heard, calling for more transitional housing with options spread across the Northwest Territories.
The NWT Housing Corporation responded with the Northern Pathways to Housing Program, a five-year partnership with three communities to introduce new transitional housing units and fund ongoing case-worker support. The program is intended to help tackle homelessness in small communities specifically because even though public housing is typically the norm, some residents are unable to access housing. They are simply being left out in the cold.
Mr. Speaker, Northern Pathways to Housing is making significant headway on a serious problem. Unfortunately, it is not enough. Nunakput communities are not included, and neither are some of the communities that rely on ice roads during the winter shipping season.
Although the funding agreement between the Government of Canada and IRC has brought much-needed housing replacements to the region, that money did not result in additional units. Today we have current residents in need and many Nunakput residents looking for other options.
Mr. Speaker, this is an area that needs urgent attention. Looking at options for tiny homes in remote communities in the Northwest Territories should be on the radar of the Government of the Northwest Territories. As the fall arrives, we are still awaiting completion of buildings that had missed the shipping season last year.
In closing, I believe that we need to be planning two to three years in advance for remote communities who rely on ice roads in the winter and the barges in the summer and the fall shipping season. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.