Regular MLAs say they won’t support the NWT’s latest capital budget unless it dedicates more funding to housing and healthcare.
Finance minister Caroline Wawzonek tabled the capital estimates for 2025-26 last week, detailing how the government plans to spend $339 million on infrastructure projects in the coming fiscal year.
Reading from a strongly worded report by a committee of regular MLAs on Wednesday, Inuvik Boot Lake MLA Denny Rodgers said they won’t approve that budget without greater commitments to address the territory’s healthcare and housing crises.
“Committee has become increasingly concerned with the crisis conditions that continue to develop in the delivery of health and social services and the affordability and availability of housing in the NWT,” he said.
“After thorough consideration, committee is not able to support a capital plan while the top priorities of the 20th Legislative Assembly still require urgent attention, action and associated funding.”
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Currently, 18 percent of the proposed capital budget is dedicated to healthcare and three percent to housing.
Rodgers said MLAs are calling on the government to “adopt a more staff-centric approach” to healthcare. That includes implementing a governance and management organization structure, a cultural shift that empowers front-line workers, and enhanced recruitment and retention efforts.
Rodgers further called on Housing NWT to better report on and demonstrate how it is working with Indigenous governments to deliver housing strategies, and for the territorial government to complete bulk land transfers to communities.
“We are urgently seeking a course correction from government with appropriate resourcing behind it that reflects both the assembly priorities and the concerns of NWT residents,” he said.
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“It has become clear to us that failing to fix these problems is undermining our ability to practice responsible fiscal management and puts our goals in jeopardy.”
MLAs are set to continue debating the capital budget in the coming days.
