The sixth Assembly of Nunavut is entering its final session before the territorial elections, and the leader of the House of Representatives, David Joanasie, said that he hopes that his budget and housing are key issues for the discussion.
The members will sit from September 8 to 18 in a fall long before its usual use of the end of October.
The Assembly will dissolve on September 21 before the seventh election of Nunavut, which will happen no later than October 27.
Joanasie said that the assembly still has several bills to discuss, and hopes that there are questions about public homes that will leave the hearings on Thursday and Friday where members discussed a May General Auditor Report.
That report says that Nunavut’s housing corporation has not provided Nunavut residents equitable access to adequate public housing and that the corporation did not know if the units were being assigned to those who needed them the most.
“Housing was a big issue and continues,” said Joanasie.
The autumn session is typically when the assembly presents its capital budget. Since it is an electoral year, the capital plan will not introduce anything new: it will only map the interim spending to finance projects that have already begun.
“It is also with the mind of establishing the next assembly and the next government for success,” said Joanasie.
And as always, said Joanasie, the members will present concerns of their voters.
