Thank you, Minister. Tabling of documents. Notices of motion. Motions. Notices of motion for the first reading of bills. First reading of bills. Second reading of bills. Consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters. Bill 23, 29, 56, and 61, Committee Report 40-19(2), Minister's Statement 264-19(2), Tabled Document 681-19(2), Tabled Document 694-19(2), Tabled Document 813-19(2).

Colleagues, by the authority given to me as Speaker, I hereby authorize this sitting beyond the reasonable hours of the day, with Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes in the chair.

I now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee, Member for Frame Lake?

Merci, Madam la Presidente. Committee wishes to consider Bill 56 and Tabled Document 813-19(2), 2023-2024 Main Estimates, with Municipal and Community Affairs and Justice. Mahsi, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Committee, we will take a short recess and resume with the first item.

---SHORT RECESS

I now call Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we've agreed to Bill 56, An Act to Amend the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Act. I will ask the Minister responsible for Housing Northwest Territories -- bill, sorry. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm here to present Bill 65, An Act to Amend the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Act.

On April 1st, 2022, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation publicly changed its name to Housing NWT. The bill will amend the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Act to legally implement the name change for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation to Housing NWT, and it is intended to take effect April 1st, 2023.

While Bill 56 is only intended to formalize the name change to Housing NWT, it is part of the larger renewal process that is currently underway of Housing NWT. Work on the renewal has been done with the participation of the Council of Leaders housing working group and took into account recommendations contained in the Legislative Assembly's Motion 30-19(2), Actions for Improved Housing Outcomes.

The name change was one of 40 proposed changes arising from the renewal. This renewal has and is being carried out in accordance with the strategy for the renewal of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. A more comprehensive review of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Act is identified in the strategy; however, it was noted in the strategy that due to the time constraints, a comprehensive review of the Act itself would likely carry over to the 20th Legislative Assembly.

A substantive review of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Act during the 20th Legislative Assembly was also specifically identified as one of the 41 proposed program and policy recommendations arising from the renewal and discussions with the Council of Leaders housing working group.

Despite the focus on policies and programs, the renewal process has identified several potential changes to the Act but there has not yet been developed in detail and require further discussion with our partners and stakeholders.

To move forward with these and potential changes yet-to-be identified in a hurried manner will not serve the public interest or Housing NWT's mandate values of collaboration and reconciliation. Some changes may reference Indigenous self-government and may involve significant analysis, legal advice, and input from stakeholders.

Failing to move forward with the legislated name change also carries some risks, such as unnecessary public confusion and increased costs. While the program and policy changes Housing NWT has been announcing are substantive and go to the core of Housing NWT's mandate, they do not hinge on further changes to the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Act.

I hope that with the context, the committee is prepared to move forward with Bill 56 on the understanding of the comprehensive review of the Act, with public, Indigenous governments and stakeholder engagements is intended to occur during the 20th Legislative Assembly.

I look forward to continuing to work with all Members of this Legislative Assembly on the renewal of Housing NWT to reach our shared goal of improving housing outcomes for NWT residents. Mahsi.

Thank you. Minister, would you like to bring witnesses into the Chamber?

Oh yes. Yes, I have witnesses, yes.

Thank you. Sergeant-at-arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber.

Minister, will you please introduce your witnesses.

To my right, I have Mr. Jamie Fulford, associate deputy minister. And Stephen Flanagan to my left. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Welcome. I'll now turn to the chair of Standing Committee on Social Development, the committee that reviewed the bill for any opening comments on Bill 56. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, Bill 56, An Act to Amend the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Act, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on October 20th, 2022, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review.

On February 16th, 2023, the standing committee held a public hearing with the Minister responsible for Housing NWT and completed its clause-by-clause review of the bill.

Madam Chair, I just want to say that committee has been fairly hard on housing this term. We have definitely tried our best to hold them to task and to really push change from the housing corporation, now Housing NWT, and are thankful that they've bought in through -- this work, really was born out of a motion that was brought forward by this side of the House and I think I can honestly say that it was the motion that was most positively responded to from the other side of the House. And so I want to pay credit where credit is due.

With that said, I also think that committee has given a lot of grace to housing corporation in saying that they want to be able to properly resource and fund and support the work of housing and the change that we expect to see. And so we wanted to see a lot more ambitious legislative changes through this, and we're hoping to see a lot more ambitious legislative changes in the length of the 19th Assembly. And so, you know, given that a piece of legislation was opened, it would have been nice to have seen more substantive changes put forward. While that is said, I understand what the Minister is saying and hope that the 20th Assembly will get a more substantive piece of the legislation from Housing NWT.

So thank you very much, Madam Chair. Individual Members may have additional comments or questions at this time. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll now open the floor to general comments on Bill 56. Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I don't want to speak very long but I guess it takes a lot of time and effort to bring a bill forward, and a lot of time in this House, a lot of time on the, you know, part of the staff, Department of Justice. So to just get, you know, a bill brought forward that only changes the name while this renewal process is going on is a little bit disappointing. I would have thought if we're going to open up a bill, let's make some substantive changes. You know, put in some of the vision work and so on that -- clearly, the housing folks have already started to do some work on this but so be it. But I had expected to see a lot more. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Are there any further questions or comments on this bill? Seeing none, does committee agree that there are no further general comments?

Can we proceed to a clause-by-clause review of the Bill 56, An Act to Amend the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Act.

Where possible, I will call the clauses in groups of five. Does committee agree?

Committee, we will defer the bill number and title until after consideration of the clauses. Please turn to page 1 of the bill.

---Clauses 1 through 19 inclusive approved,

I will now return to the bill number and title. Bill 56, An Act to Amend the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Act, does committee agree?

Committee, to the bill as a whole, does committee agree that Bill 56, An Act to Amend the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Act, is now ready for third reading?