Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank the Member from the Deh Cho and the Member for Range Lake for bringing this motion. It raises an important issue worthy of careful consideration by this House.
I don't think there is anyone in this Chamber who doesn't agree that we are in a housing crisis and that adequate, affordable, and suitable housing provides a foundation for people's well-being and quality of life. I am happy to see the interest of the Members in the House on the critical need for housing across the North, and the work of my colleagues is important and genuine. It comes from a good place, and this is a great start.
In my first remarks in the House back in December, I spoke about disparity and how homelessness in the Arctic and this shouldn't be thought of as an impossibility. My previous volunteer work as a member of the Inuvik Homeless Shelter Society grounded me and spurred me to advocate for those that are less fortunate and those that are homeless.
Mr. Speaker, we all agreed, as the 20th Legislative Assembly, that adequate, affordable, and suitable housing in the Northwest Territories is our number one priority. That priority will find its way into the mandate currently being developed based, in part, on the priority.
So this motion seeks to affirm housing as a human right. The right to housing is the subject of international treaties, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. These are international obligations that fall within the federal jurisdiction. As a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other international human rights instruments, Canada has agreed to take appropriate steps towards the realization of the right to adequate housing.
At the federal level, in the National Housing Strategy Act, Canada has already legislated a right to adequate, affordable, and suitable housing as a fundamental human right. In section 4 in the National Housing Strategy Act speaks to the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing, which is acknowledgement, first, that the right to housing has not been realized; and second, that it will take significant time and resources to move towards that state. This federal Act already applies throughout Canada.
And as my colleague from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh mentioned, the federal government is the only government in Canada with the fiscal capacity and resources needed to help realize a right to housing. Under the National Housing Strategy, the federal government has been make significant investments in housing across Canada to aid with the progressive realization of a right to adequate housing. The GNWT and Housing NWT are willing partners of the federal government in all efforts to address the housing crisis in the North. However, like other provincial and territorial jurisdictions in Canada, we want to ensure there is no confusion about the federal government's responsibility for providing funding toward meeting this international legal obligation. So today Cabinet will be abstaining from the vote; however, should this motion be carried I can commit that Housing NWT will participate in the standing committee's further study on this matter. Quyananni Mr. Speaker.