This month, the legislative assembly passed the 2025-26 budget after an additional $41 million was included to repair public housing units. The Minister of Finance touted these funds as a major negotiating achievement for the Accountability and Oversight Committee (AOC), which is comprised of the majority of MLAs who were not elected to cabinet.

Cabinet has good reason to celebrate - they managed to steer their budget through despite the worsening challenges our territory faces. Behind their political achievements, a harsh reality remains: we are now in year two of our term, and cabinet has yet to present us with any plans to deal with the NorthSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s many social and economic crises. 

All they had to offer this year was $41 million for housing and with 2,800 public housing units, that is just $14,600 per unit for maintenance SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½“ to say nothing of the 600 people and their families sitting the wait list.

Readers in Yellowknife are all too familiar with our stagnating economy, struggling public services, and violent drug crime, but these circumstances are even more dire outside of the capital. Cabinet can congratulate themselves for securing those additional housing funds, but I wonSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™t go back to my communities and present a 1.64 per cent increase in the budget as though it will have a major impact on their housing needs.

At the same time, calls from regular MLAs to address the priorities cabinet leaves behind are ignored. Mackenzie Delta MLA George Nerysoo tried to keep community learning centres open, yet $1.8 million was still cut from Aurora CollegeSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s budget. Last March, when I presented the priorities of my communities, ranging from new classrooms and gymnasiums in Ndilo and Dettah to a new water treatment plant in Fort Resolution, those went unanswered. 

Our territorial budget expenditures reach all-time highs year after year while our debt limit doubles and not one of my priorities, not even chip sealing roads in LutselkSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™e, ended up on their capital plans.

Neglecting our small communities negatively impacts our larger population centres as well. For example, with 6,500 Dene, Métis, and Inuvialuit aged 15 to 65 not currently in the workforce, and another 1,000 unemployed, these cuts to community education further shuts them out of workforce. That, in turn, denies our territory the prosperity needed to sustain our public services, like housing and health care. If cabinet was serious about reviving our economy, they would work closer with Indigenous leaders and their communities to unlock our peopleSA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½™s true potential. 

If cabinet chooses instead to persist with the status quo of inequality, they will effectively be declaring themselves non-compliant with their treaty obligations.

Unfortunately, that status quo continues to stubbornly resist the overwhelming consensus in our territory for change SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½“ and the core of that consensus are values of collaboration and respect SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½“ which are foundational to building the brighter future we all deserve. I work everyday to bring that consensus from the communities into our legislative assembly, but it goes unheard because cabinet has consensus government backwards. They build a consensus among themselves and then enforce it onto our communities. This is the way things will be until all regular MLAs stand united. 

I joined the Independent Members Caucus to prove solidarity in the face of unfairness is possible, and that solidarity is needed now more than ever.

Richard Edjericon is the MLA for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.