Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 01/02) - The Minister responsible for the housing is now also responsible for addressing homelessness.

Responding to a call from regular members the day before, on Wednesday Premier Stephen Kakfwi announced Roger Allen would be the lead minister on addressing homelessness.

The move was welcomed by the chair of a coalition of non-governmental and governmental groups attempting to address homelessness in Yellowknife.

"One of the things we've been requesting from the GNWT is high level involvement," said Capt. Karen Hoeft of the Salvation Army.

"We wanted somebody who could direct the different departments -- homelessness is a huge issue.

"It's not just about houses, it's about how do we keep people in houses."

Kakfwi said Allen will outline to the assembly what steps the government will take to deal with the issue.