Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Minister of Housing NWT.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I announced in the capital update that 100 new homes were either completed or in progress. So we do have some homes that are in progress because of transportation issues. So there are some homes that are not completed yet. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when looking at previous capital estimate plans for the Tlicho region, Housing NWT had planned to retrofit two units in Gameti and two units in Whati between 2022. Can the Minister confirm whether those retrofits have been completed? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I cannot confirm at this time that those were completed, Mr. Speaker. I can follow up and provide the information to the Member as soon as I know that information. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you for the information. Mr. Speaker, in the 2023-2024 Capital Estimates, CIRNAC is funding five new units -- public units and retrofitting four public units in Behchoko. Can the Minister provide any updates on the status of those projects?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The status of the projects are ten new public housing units are now under construction in the Tlicho communities, all awarded to Tlicho businesses, including six new public housing units in Behchoko. Four of these are on track for completion this spring and two others will be completed this summer. Two new public housing units in Gameti to be completed this spring. Two new public housing units in Whati to be completed by this summer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.

I hope it's going to be completed in Gameti because of -- that all depends on the ice road.

So, Mr. Speaker, when looking at Housing NWT capital planning documents over the last five years, there have been no plans to put new units or renovate units in Wekweeti. Will the Minister commit to putting a new unit into Wekweeti? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Housing NWT allocates units based on waiting lists and need, and at this time we have to look at all units across the North and need across the North. So I can't commit at this time. But I could follow up with the Member and discuss the capital plan for the Tlicho region. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Housing NWT. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm going to follow up on my Member's statement today, and I want to begin by saying when I was first elected to city council back in the 2000, the fall of 2000 that is, I was given a book. It was called Dogs, Ditches and Dumps, and what it did is kind of describe the mandate of a city councillor and the jobs you need to do. So since that time, I've elected to become an MLA and I've noticed that the council mandate is not in congress anymore with what it was really intended. In other words, they're picking up programs that really rightly should go on to the GNWT such as the health and social services programs that they shouldn't be doing. Morally doing it, but they shouldn't be doing it.

Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is, is she aware of the women's centre outreach -- street outreach program, and if so, what is she aware of what it does? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Two questions. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm aware in Yellowknife that there are many programs -- outreach programs. I mean, there's the shelters. You know, I mean, health and social services is actually operating the homeless shelter and the day shelter -- or the, sorry, the overnight shelter and the day shelter in Yellowknife. We do fund a lot of different programs within the city. The one that the Member is speaking specifically about, you know, I don't have that information offhand right now but I can look into what the actual program is and get back to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the answer from the Minister. Mr. Speaker, the program that -- sorry, my apologies. The pilot program, I believe has been running for about seven years, and she was a member of the social development committee so I'm sure she's familiar with the types of issues.

Would the Minister be willing to meet with city council before the end of this fiscal year to discuss funding and supporting the program through health and social services through some type of contribution agreement to the city of Yellowknife? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I am willing to do is I'm willing to meet with the city of Yellowknife. I already have received an invite to meet -- request to meet with them on some of the programs that they have and discussions. Becoming a new Minister, there's a -- you know, there was a lot of things going and then session. So my office is aware, and we are -- we don't have a scheduled date yet, but I'm hoping that it will be before the end of this fiscal year. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe this program serves many in our community that are vulnerable. It's a no judgement program. Whether they're there because they choose to be there or their demons get them there, whatever it is, it's a good program, rather than leaving them on the street.

Mr. Speaker, my last question -- or my previous question wasn't about just the city of Yellowknife. Does the Minister -- sorry, in the Minister's ability as Minister -- I mean, she certainly would be welcomed to fund the Yellowknife Women's Society directly and set aside. So would the Minister make sure that any discussion with the city does involve full partnership with the women's society? Thank you.

Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Minister. Mr. Speaker, to be clear and on the record, does the Department of Health and Social Services support the street outreach program and if so, would they make sure that that's absolutely committed today rather than leaving people vulnerable on the streets? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, you know, I'm not going to be committing anything on the floor of this House today without any information and a time to speak with the different NGOs and so therefore I've committed to meeting and speaking with the NGO and the city, and I'll leave it at that, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my friend, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, was too modest. I think his hardworking staff is actually overworked staff. So I'd like to ask the Premier, in his responsibility as Minister of Justice, how the government is supporting the access to information regime in the Northwest Territories considering the high demand from the public and the low rate of responsiveness from the government as an entire entity? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the access privacy office has seen an increase in requests and an increase in the complexity of those requests. I'm not sure if there's a huge public demand. It's a relatively small group of people that are being served by that office. There's companies, there's lawyers, there's individuals who are requesting documents that, you know, end up being tens of thousands or thousands of pages. Every single one of those pages has to be found, discovered by someone in say, for example, MACA, who has two people working full-time to fill these requests for a very very very small segment of the territory. They then have to go to the access and privacy office, and they go through line by line, sometimes tens of thousands of pages, so it is a lot of work. The office has -- the access and privacy office has seen some vacancies. Those are in the process of being filled, in some cases double filled. And hopefully this month -- I'm expecting that this month that office will be back to full strength. Thank you.