Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Infrastructure. Oh, housing?

[Audio].

Oh, Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe Housing NWT does their own infrastructure acquisition, so this would be directed to the Minister of housing. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Sorry for all the confusion. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. Understanding it's on Infrastructure property, but Housing NWT is leading the formal encampment response process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. That encampment is growing. It's affecting the residents in the neighbourhood there. I'd like to hear what the government is doing to solve that problem because the people and families in that neighbourhood are not enjoying the late night -- we'll call it entertainment provided by this encampment. On top of that, that's a parking lot for Infrastructure vehicles. That's why I went to the Infrastructure Minister first to see what they're doing about it, just for clarity, Mr. Speaker. So what is Housing going to do to help these families that are under this distress? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Housing did commit and the government did commit to a coordinated response and a standard operating procedure. Housing NWT, along with government partners, have issued the framework today, and this framework lays out what the different departments, along with the City of Yellowknife and the Municipal Enforcement Division and RCMP, work alongside with EIA and the Integrated Service Delivery Unit to provide support to the neighbourhood and to the people that are within the encampment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that. My third -- yeah. This is my third question. One question --

[Audio].

Yeah, my third. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Has anyone had the courage to ask them to leave? They're now blocking government parking and we have government vehicles that have to go somewhere and this is interrupting the operations of government, and maybe direct them to a -- we'll call it a better location of Commissioner's land, which you guys have all the access to that information --

[Audio].

So, Mr. Speaker, has anyone had the courage to try to ask them to relocate to a place that isn't in conflict? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I will find out the specifics for the MLA and provide that information to them by tomorrow. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for health and social services. Minister of Health and Social Services. You know, I did raise this issue back in February regarding special needs facility. So, Mr. Speaker, Tlicho regions -- in Tlicho region, families continue to raise serious concerns about the absence of a dedicated facility to support residents with special needs. I know that the Minister said there were, like, 12 of our Tlicho citizens that were outside of the NWT. They were in a facility outside of the NWT. So given the ongoing concerns raised by families, the Minister said she was going to talk to TCSA. Can the Minister update us on the status of the development of a dedicated special needs facility in Tlicho region? Thank you.

Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I -- you know, I appreciate this question being raised again, and I do agree that, as I said to the -- in the last questions that I was responding to on supportive living is that there are many of our residents that are living outside the territory because we currently haven't established places in the territory for that. And that is what -- and I know that work on the health sustainability unit should be coming available soon. Once that -- you know, that comes forward, then -- you know, then that gives us the decisions to figure out what we're going to do in territory. And I agree with the Member that, you know, bringing back people home, we don't want to bring them back and have them in a big institution if they're -- if they have to live. We want to make sure that we're looking at different options. And so as soon as we have this information, I am sure, you know, with -- the Premier will brief the committee, and we will be able to have a plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, Mr. Speaker, when we see our residents that are in the south, you know, it's very heartbreaking for many of the family members when they see them when they're going to be leaving. Some of them cry. It's a very emotional time for many of them. So, you know, 12 outside, and then there's more than 10 in Tlicho region with the need that we can surely use supportive living programs in the community. So with that in mind, can the Minister confirm how many special needs units are available in the NWT to accommodate, you know, both the elderly and the young people with special needs? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, right now we currently have a facility in Hay River for supportive living. We have two facilities in Inuvik. One is more independent, and one is more of nursing care in there, more advanced care. However, there's multiple people living with families and other people in the territory. And this is one of the concerns, and that's why we created the territorial supportive living application so that families can go through this if they need supports. So then we can kind of identify of those ones that we don't know that are in small communities that maybe need supports, we need to have everybody apply through this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister commit to put a rush order on this for supportive living in Tlicho region so that our young people do not have to leave the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, right now what I commit to is that I know within the assessment phase we are trying to make sure that people who are living outside the territory that are Tier 1 and Tier 2, those are the ones that we would be able to, you know, try to support. That's where we're thinking, but -- so everybody has to be reassessed to make sure that -- so even if there's, as the Member said, 12 residents from Behchoko or Tlicho region outside the territory, not all of them might be 1 or 2, so they may not all be able to be supported back in the territory. But what I can do is get more information on that and get back to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.