Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our residents know that there is nothing more important than having a roof over your head and a clean sane place to call home. I rise today to speak on healthy housing in our communities, and the responsibility of this government to ensure public housing units are safe for families who depend on our government to support, especially when facing unprecedent strains on their pocketbooks.

It goes without saying that expectation for clean and pest-free homes are not outrageous, and any reasonable person would expect such conditions. So now, Mr. Speaker, let me tell you about cockroaches.

Cockroaches have been an insect pest for around 4 million years with more than 3,500 species found around the world. These detestable pests, particularly found and living in restaurants, food processing facilities, hotel rooms, nursing homes, measuring anywhere from 1.3 to 1.6 centimetres long. The German cockroach is one of the most common. Although not suited for the cold, the German cockroach has been found in buildings as far north as Nunavut.

Mr. Speaker, you don't need to go to Nunavut to find cockroaches. Indeed, you need to look no further than some of our own public housing units here in the Northwest Territories, especially here in Yellowknife, to find the truly deplorable infestation of 'Harry' on our residents. Constituents have contacted me complaining about severe mold, foul mold odours, worms, cockroaches coming through walls, floors, vents, plugs, under the sink, and floorboards. I've seen truly a horrendous video of this infestation submitted by the tenant, and I'm shocked that despite such definitive evidence nothing has been done by the NWT Housing Corporation local housing authority throughout NWT and here in Yellowknife to help families living in a safe and healthy environment. My constituents were brought to tears when they couldn't even cook a Thanksgiving dinner just last weekend due to so many cockroaches in their kitchen and, now, they're pouring into their fridge and kitchen cabinets.

Mr. Speaker, this issue is about health and safety of all public housing tenants and gastroenteritis, dysentery, cholera, typhoid fever, salmonellosis, and E. coli infection. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, it is completely unacceptable for any family to live in these conditions living in public housing units and just as unacceptable that their pleas for help have fallen to deaf ears in the last two years. These tenants need immediate help and do not deserve to be brushed off and told that they are not a very clean family.

I've asked the Minister responsible for Housing NWT to act in written correspondence, and now I'm calling on her again to do the right thing and help this poor family and so they can live in a healthy clean unit, free from cockroaches, worms, and to restore their self-worth and confidence in basic humanity and dignity. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions for the Minister.