Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, it is a fact that we are -- the Northwest Territories is second only to Nunavut as far as being the territory or province with the highest rate of family violence in Canada. That is still very relevant in our entire territory. We also have a lot of communities that rely quite heavily on public housing across the territory. And our public housing still has a community residency policy where people need to live in a community for a designated period of time before they can even put their name on a waitlist to then wait for housing. And what this means is that somebody who is in another community potentially cannot put their name on another community's waitlist to flee family violence. I know that the Minister has said on the floor of this House before that they could go and talk to their local LHO and maybe check a box and be willing to have their name put on a waitlist in their own community. The problem with that is that we live in a very small north. We live in a small territory where we all know one another. And somebody might be expected then to disclose to a family member, an extended family member, or in an unsafe way that they're experiencing family violence, and that puts them in further harm. And so I think it's really important that we have safe places where women and children who are most predominantly impacted by family violence can go and be safe. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. One of the pieces that I just wanted to point out here that I think is super key is the sustainable multi-year piece, and that, again, comes back to everything that we just continuously hear from any of the organizations that receive government funding, that the uncertainty from year to year to year about getting funding actually causes more of a cost to them than it would if they just had it for a few years in a sense of a cost for the capacity to report or to reapply but also just even that uncertainty always adds additional costs to it because you don't know for sure. So you can't plan ahead and be more efficient with your time and your money. So that I thought was a very key piece.

And one of the things that as we travelled for this work, you know, we went into a few communities, and I've heard from others that, you know, it's just a matter of the physical space. And this has even come up around arts, everything. Oftentimes it comes down to is that people just need a space to do something. And in this instance, there seems to be people that are out there that are motivated; they know where they can get their funding to operate; they have ideas; they've got dedicated people that want to work on it and solve the problem but they just can't get a house. They can't get a place in a building. And, you know, I think the more that we as a government and my colleagues on the other side can just provide these spaces, it will -- it will follow. Build it and they can come I guess, for lack of a better way. I think if we can provide the spaces, the communities and the people themselves will ensure they're filled and will ensure that they're being run in the manner that they're intended to. So for me ultimately within the next while, I would love to see that there be a shelter for women and children in every single community in the Northwest Territories, whether that just be a small one-bedroom home that they can go to that is considered to be a safe house. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. To the motion.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Member for Kam Lake.