Okay, thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Debates of Feb. 27th, 2025
This is page numbers of the Hansard for the 20th Assembly, 1st Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was know.
Topics
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And on the same subject of sustainable funding for shelters and non-profits, I mean, we see under the contributions for these various kinds of shelters and initiatives that support homelessness, the numbers haven't increased over time. It's the exact same, right? And so we're not incorporating inflation which we know has been a big -- a big rate of inflation over the last couple of years. And yet, I mean, across all other aspects of GNWT operations, we see the budget increase due to forced growth inflation. So I guess the question is why don't we see the numbers increase? Why do we expect our non-profit partners to continue year after year, no matter how much inflation there is, to continue offering services around shelters, homelessness, for the exact same as the year before and especially when we're seeing increased numbers of people accessing these services and increased need? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th, 2025
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Dr. Erin Kelly
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I completely understand what the Member is bringing forward, and I know that there's ongoing discussions about that and that EIA has been leading some discussions with end goals related to it. In this case in particular, we're challenged by the fact that we're an organization that's being -- there's a lot of want to build new units and to spend the budget on items like that, and we're trying to balance the budget across all of the needs that folks have for Housing NWT. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
The Chair Richard Edjericon
Okay, thank you. I'm going to go back to the Member from Yellowknife North.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Shauna Morgan Yellowknife North
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I mean, I do understand that, but I also think that by trying to spread the money thinner or sort of take for granted that we can keep this number the same and do other things instead, we're endangering the current relationships and arrangements that we have and then we could end up in more situations like the Inuvik situation where, you know, we -- the government has to take over operating a shelter and realizes that it has to spend much more money than it was paying before to the non-profit. Anyway, that's another soapbox for another day.
But my final question on this item is so the rapid rehousing last year had a line item of 400,000, and there's nothing in the 2025-2026 Main Estimates for rapid rehousing. My understanding was that the contributions that had previously been distributed under rapid rehousing are now going to be distributed under Northern Pathways to housing, but then I don't see that number going up in terms of contributions coming out of Northern Pathways. Can the Minister explain where that $400,000 has gone? Is it that we're giving out $400,000 less in total, or it's coming from somewhere else that I can't see on the budget here? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Lucy Kuptana Nunakput
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Dr. Erin Kelly will provide more information to the budget adjustment. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Dr. Erin Kelly
Thank you, Mr. Chair. You're correct about the budget adjustment but, unfortunately, I'm going to have to ask if Jim can speak to this. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Jim Martin
Thank you, Mr. Chair. These funds are being -- have been reallocated to the Northern Pathways program; however, at this time that $400,000 is being funded internally within our internal resources. So funding will remain at the same level for next year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
The Chair Richard Edjericon
Okay, thank you. Is there any further questions from the Member from Yellowknife North? None? Thank you. Is there any other Members? I'm going to go to the Member from Monfwi.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi
Thank you. Yeah, I just want to ask about this Northern Pathways. Many of these programs are very important, especially to small communities where there's limited facility. So Northern Pathways to housing, shelter enhancement fund, emergency shelters, I want to ask the Minister if all these funds get used up within the fiscal year.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Lucy Kuptana Nunakput
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I can confirm that all the funds get used up. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi
Yeah, you know, shelter enhancement funds, okay, if it gets used up because like I said it's very important, especially for small communities where we rely on many of these programs and these funds. For example, the shelter enhancement fund, $100,000, is it going to increase anytime soon? Because I'm sure there's -- you know, there's facilities out there in small communities, they -- you know, they access these funds. So is it allocated based on first-come/first-serve basis, or how does this money get allocated? Because it's not a lot of money. So thank you.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Lucy Kuptana Nunakput
Thank you, Mr. Chair. From what I understand with the shelter enhancement fund, it is an application-based with Housing NWT. It's not a lot of money. But perhaps Dr. Erin Kelly can provide more information related to that fund. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th
Dr. Erin Kelly
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So my understanding of the question is will this increase. And the answer is this is what we've got in the budget. But if you look at the actuals versus the budget, often you'll see that there's increases above what the budget is. And when that happens, it's Housing NWT using our internal resources to augment what we have. So where there is need, we try our best to try to help to support that. We also try to look in our internal resources -- and you were provided with a page that shows -- and try to project where we need to put some more money because we know that there's going to be pressures there with our internal resources. But we don't have enough money to increase everything over time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 27th