Since I began my term, the most pressing issues from my constituents stem from housing issues. My district is home to many of the apartment buildings used by the Housing Corp for their clients in Yellowknife, with Simpson House and Norseman Manor the subject of the majority of complaints. One constituent, who moved to Yellowknife from their home community to be closer to needed medical services for their child, routinely has issues with their family's unit. These issues range from an overflowing toilet to ants on their countertops crawling in their cupboards and over their infant children while they sleep. The provided solution always seems to be to use pest control chemicals; however, how they interfere with their child's medical issues is unknown.

The unit located next door has been boarded up for an extended period of time and one has to ask, why is a profitable unit not being used? I can only assume it is due to an issue like mold which makes me concerned for my constituents. But when asked, the Housing Corporation had no idea why the unit was boarded up and it hadn't occurred to them to ask. In my constituent's unit a window has been broken for months in freezing temperatures without replacement. I ask you, Mr Speaker, is this unit suitable to raise children in? Particularly one with compromised health.

Another common constituent complaint is of drug- and alcohol-fuelled parties with people then using the common areas of the building as a toilet. During one such incident the excrement was not cleaned up for several warm days leading to an offensive stench throughout the building. In my own experience, I was cat-sitting for a friend and found myself having to step over puddles of urine in the building foyer for days before they were ever cleaned up.

Being harassed and asked for money or cigarettes is a common occurrence for my constituents. Fire alarms are often pulled in the middle of the night and laundry rooms are shut down due to escalating repair costs from vandalism. Many housing clients no longer have the ability to wash their clothes onsite, which adds more stress, costs, and time to their burden.

Recently I toured these buildings and found that they're in an advanced state of disrepair with several housing programs operating in the buildings with little to no integration. The landlord's manager, who was kind enough to show us around, presented me with a thick file of complaints and invoices for repairs and costs associated with false alarms. He indicated that 24-hour security is badly needed in the buildings in order to provide a deterrent to those creating problems. It is my belief that the cost of security would be far less than what is currently being paid for repairs and callouts. And when one factors in the well-being and peace of mind this would bring to my constituents, it is invaluable. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.