Debates of Oct. 29th, 2025

Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I think the auditor general report, again, is a wake-up call, and I've committed to this call to action and moving forward, working with the local housing organizations and the district offices as well as headquarters to monitor and improve the housing conditions within community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Several of my constituents want to move from their public housing units in one community to a unit in another community. Currently, they must transfer out of the existing unit before they secure a new one, and this process is confusing and slow. Can the Minister commit to allowing public housing residents to secure a spot in another community first and then transfer them to that unit so they can access housing more quickly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that's a tough one. First of all, the local housing organizations have a community housing services agreement with Housing NWT so local housing organizations are the ones that manage the stock, the housing stock, at the local level, and many times they have, and probably all times, they have a residency requirement. So transferring from community to community when there's no housing within community to transfer to is a tough one. So there's many barriers. We can have a conversation, but I would leave this at the local housing organization level because we're not there, I'm not living it, I don't see the -- you know, many times what's happening at the local level. So that's why housing organizations are so important to have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Many of my constituents, particularly from Yellowknives Dene First Nation or Lutselk'e Dene First Nation, live in public housing here in Yellowknife. They face numerous challenges and they're often confused with the housing authority regarding their residency when they need to travel for work, go on the land, or return to their communities to care for elders. Could the Minister establish an Indigenous advocacy within the Yellowknife Housing Authority to represent these residents and address their unique challenges? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is the Indigenous advocate or the housing advocate -- because we need to be an advocate for all people in the Northwest Territories -- is something that was identified in the Office of the Auditor General report, and I've asked Housing NWT to provide me a response and a plan moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Upon reflection, I am going to try and ask a question to ECC a different way.

Mr. Speaker, what process does the GNWT follow to understand the fiscal capacity of a mining company? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of ECC.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, assessing the fiscal capacity of a company is certainly part of the process when a company comes into the field of mining; however, it is not a responsibility that falls directly to the GNWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of ECC. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What would a Wednesday be without a health question?

Mr. Speaker, I've inquired through the Minister's office -- so in general, this shouldn't be too much of a surprise -- with respect to an out of territory country claim submission. So that's basically a medical travel process. If you need an expense for a health reason while you're out of the country in short. I've asked for the guiding policy document that this form should buttress or explain or justify, and we seem to be running into problems, and the department sends me the application form, not the policy guiding document. So that said, Mr. Speaker, the question for the Minister of health, because it is Wednesday, which is does this policy guiding document actually exist that supports the application, yes or no? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have that level of detail. I'll have to get back to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is how would they operate without a policy document? The retired bureaucrat is at a policy walk and they're concerned about applying for things that they may or may not qualify based on best dollar for the government and reasonable services that could be extended. Would it be reasonable to assume there should be a policy document? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, at that level of detail I would have to get back to the Member.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked questions about late payments for SFA students. The Minister said that she will not pay them back even though we have a process for paying back income support late fees incurred on income support payments. Will the Minister work with her department to find what barriers exist to paying off these late fees so we can give our students a break? Thank you very much.

Thank you, Member for Range Lake. Minister of ECE.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's not an expectation that this would happen because it's not something that we account and fund for. I'm always happy to go back to the department and find out what kind of an economic cost this would have to our student financial assistance. That said, Mr. Speaker, it is not expected that student financial assistance covers the entire cost of post-secondary for our students. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I'm not asking for them to pay the entire cost. I'm asking them to pay for late fees incurred because of departmental holdups because they couldn't process these payments. This is an extraordinary occurrence. Will the Minister take extraordinary action and pay these students for their late fees? It's a very simple question, and it shouldn't be this controversial. We don't need a lot of policy change. Do the right thing; help our students out. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the answer to my first question I did say I'm always happy to go back to the department. And what I'm saying here, Mr. Speaker, is that it is expected that students have, from their summer student jobs, some dollars that they can afford to pay their tuition and then student financial assistance comes back and supports them. This is not a regular occurrence. The Member is absolutely right. And I am doing what I can to ensure that we are following up and making sure that processes are as efficient as possible. Thank you.