Julie Green

Legislative Assembly photo

Roles

In the Legislative Assembly

Elsewhere

Crucial Fact

Historical Information Julie Green is no longer a member of the Legislative Assembly.

Last in the Legislative Assembly October 2023, as MLA for Yellowknife Centre

Won her last election, in 2019, with 35% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Homelessness And The Housing First Program February 17th, 2016

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I was campaigning for the position I now hold, voters told me more about homelessness than any other issue. Their concern is for people who are visibly homeless. People who sleep in tents around this building, stairwells, bank foyers, and emergency shelters at night and who wander the streets by day. This is a group of people who need homes. There is some debate about how many people are homeless in Yellowknife today. The last time the emergency shelters publicly reported on the number of unique visitors they had, the number was 936. That was in 2008. This number included men, women, youth, and families. Most stayed in shelters for less than a month, but some stayed year-round.

What has changed in the last eight years? There is a new emergency shelter for youth, and there is transitional housing for women. Yet I believe, and frontline staff tell me, that the number of homeless people in Yellowknife continues to increase. They are all ages. They come from communities around the NWT. Some of them are homeless because of relationships that broke up, poverty, and bad luck, while others may also have addictions and mental health issues that make them hard to house.

This population draws huge emergency response resources from government. Ambulances pick them up and take them to hospital with alarming frequency. The RCMP pick them up for criminal activity, and they end up in court and sometimes in jail. This group is small relative to the whole population of the downtown, but they are disproportionate users of government services. This is a lose-lose situation. Homeless people remain without homes and stability. Government services are provided frequently and with no long-term benefit. It is a cycle that just repeats and repeats. There is a better way. Cities across the country have implemented a solution called Housing First. All the players come to the table: government, business, front-line staff, advocates, and even the homeless people themselves. Together, they create an organization that finds and manages housing units and then invites homeless people to live in them. This is the important part. Front-line staff provide a range of supports to people who are newly housed, including administering medications, troubleshooting problems as they come up, and mentoring people who need some additional skills to be successful as tenants. I would like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted.

Tabled Document 1-18(1): Priorities Of The 18th Legislative Assembly December 16th, 2015

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the Priorities of the 18th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery December 16th, 2015

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize several residents of Yellowknife Centre, including Henry Zoe, Mayor Mark Heyck and the chief electoral officer, Nicole Latour. I would also like to recognize Andrew Wandering Spirit, the chief of Smith’s Landing First Nations.

Appreciation To Family, Friends And Constituents December 16th, 2015

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like, today, to give my thanks for all the people who helped to put me in the position that I am starting with my family and especially my partner, Janice McKenna, my daughter, Tiffany Thrasher, my parents and friends who encouraged me to run for public office. I’d like to thank my campaign team for the many hours that they put in to getting me elected, for the constituents who put their trust in me to represent them in this 18th Assembly. To my new friends and colleagues in the Legislative Assembly, it’s been a pleasure to get to know you and I’m looking forward to working with each and every one of you over the next four years.

My pledge is, today, as I said yesterday, to work hard, to work cooperatively, to be focused on results and consensus. I’m up for the challenge, and I think we all are. Thank you.