The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) has released the What We Heard Report on the Budget Dialogues 2025 public engagement. This year’s engagement brought together residents, Indigenous and community governments, businesses, industry and non-governmental organizations to share their views on the GNWT’s fiscal decision-making process.
Check against delivery
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Auditor General of Canada released its report on the Performance Audit of Northwest Territories Housing. The Auditor General’s findings outline several areas where Housing NWT must improve how we provide residents most in need with equitable access to housing and supports through the Public Housing and Homeownership Programs.
Check against delivery
Mr. Speaker, today I would like to share the meaningful progress we are making on Truth and Reconciliation Call to Action number 82, which calls upon provincial and territorial governments, in collaboration with Survivors, to commission and install a publicly accessible, highly visible, Residential Schools Monument in each capital city to honour Survivors and all the children who were lost to their families and communities.
The Office of the Auditor General of Canada has released its performance audit of Housing NWT. The audit identifies areas for improvement in equitable access to housing and housing supports through its Public Housing and Homeownership Programs.
Housing NWT accepts all recommendations and is taking immediate steps to strengthen oversight, improve maintenance systems, and modernize policies to ensure fairness and transparency.
Below is a summary of the actions underway to address each recommendation:
Check against delivery
Mr. Speaker, ensuring that every person in the Northwest Territories has access to safe, reliable, and equitable health care is not just a priority for me and a goal of our health and social services system, it is a promise we are working every day to uphold.
Check against delivery
Mr. Speaker, I would like to provide an update on the 2025 Marine Transportation Services’ sailing season. After the 2024 low water challenges that made the Mackenzie River impossible to navigate and forced cancelation of the shipping season, I am happy to report that the 2025 season was a success.
Marine Transportation Services (MTS) has completed its 2025 resupply season with deliveries of essential cargo and fuel to 10 northern communities.
This annual scheduled service provides cost-effective resupply to residents and businesses in communities along the Mackenzie River, Great Slave Lake, and up into the Western Arctic and Kitikmeot Regions.
The Government of the Northwest Territories is introducing a Managed Service Provider (MSP) model to improve how it sources short-term IT professional services, making it easier for the GNWT to access these specialized services.
Under the MSP model, the GNWT will work with a centralized provider, selected through a competitive procurement process, to manage IT service opportunities under $300,000.
This approach is designed to support project-based work where specialized skills are needed temporarily. Internal staff remain essential for core operations and oversight.
The GNWT is working to provide residents with more laws to protect property, report problem residences that are used for illegal activities, seize assets from traffickers, and deter crime. The GNWT is developing new Civil Forfeiture legislation and Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) legislation and inviting the public to complete two online surveys and attend in-person and virtual meetings to provide feedback and have an input to ensure that these new laws meet the needs of NWT residents.
Check against delivery
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the progress the Government of the Northwest Territories has made in addressing homelessness, and to acknowledge the ongoing needs ahead. We have taken important steps, and remain committed to continuing this work with empathy, focus, and collaboration.
