Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Appropriate community engagement is vitally important to all Government of the Northwest Territories departments and agencies, including the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. I know first-hand the value of having the voice of small communities heard at the political level. It is also important to me that, instead of having community representatives come into the capital to discuss their issues and concerns, that I come to them to speak to our people in their home community, to see housing conditions for myself, to speak with the staff on the ground.
Mr. Speaker, this summer, I travelled to 14 out of the 33 communities. I had the opportunity to discuss with local and Indigenous leadership in those communities and took those opportunities to highlight the many opportunities of the Housing Corporation programming and promote the community housing plan process and also the co-investment federal funding opportunity. During these community visits, I toured assets and ongoing construction to see what we are putting on the ground. It is one thing, Mr. Speaker, to read in briefing notes about good work that the corporation is doing, but it is another to see that infrastructure come to life. I also had the opportunity to talk with district and local staff, congratulating them for the work that they have done and discussing areas of improvement. These people on the ground, the LHO staff in our communities, are working hard to get this work done.
Mr. Speaker, it was very critical for me to highlight on these trips that one of the most effective tools for the community engagement is the community housing plan process. These community housing plans are developed hand-in-hand with local and Indigenous governments to ensure that locally and appropriate housing solutions are developed for all communities. When completing these plans with the guidelines and support the housing aspirations of all communities in the NWT. Mr. Speaker, at this time, one of these plans for the community of Whati has been completed. Further, the Housing Corporation staff have met with representatives of 15 other communities to discuss their community housing plans. Despite the difficulties that the pandemic can present to the community engagement activities, I am pleased to say that four more community housing plans are close to completion.
We recognize that the development of community housing plans for all 33 communities in the Northwest Territories is ambitious, and it's an undertaking we are committed to work with, all of our partners and the community members in a meaningful and a respectful way. Developing these community plans can take time, especially while ensuring that all of our staff, partners, and community members are following appropriate COVID-19 precautions. However, these plans are too important. I am confident that these plans will be tremendously of benefit, a huge benefit, to all the communities of the NWT. I look forward to sharing the completed plans with the Members as they become available, and importantly, I look forward to the improvement of housing outcomes these plans will bring to our communities.
In closing, I want to thank the community leaders, the residents who are able to meet with me and simply greet me on the street. Schedule with our leaders, schedule with our Indigenous groups and governments are jam-packed, but we were able to be everywhere and not to be everywhere at once. I want to get the point sometime in our four years that, when an appearance by the Housing Minister is given on the street and the community does come forward with ideas, that I take them seriously. I take them seriously to enhance our programming that we display as the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, and I look forward to continuing my trips throughout the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.