Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Education, Culture and Employment has been given a lead role in the review and reform of income support programs in the NWT. As a part of this process, I released a discussion paper called "Creating Choices: Solving the Income Support Puzzle," in July of last year. This document has proven to be a valuable starting point for public discussion and consultation on this complex issue. Today I would like to follow up on my earlier announcement on the establishment of the Minister's Forum on Income Support Reform, which will give northern residents a further opportunity to guide this government in laying the foundation for change in the Northwest Territories.
The members of the Minister's forum have been appointed because they are well respected northerners and are leaders in their communities. They also represent a cross section of stakeholders in income support programs.
Mr. Speaker, their primary function is to provide advice to me and to this Assembly, in the complex task of reforming income support programs in a way that best reflects the priorities and concerns of NWT residents.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to advise that the forum will be co-chaired by Grace Blake, who is the Tsiigehtchic band chief and a member of the Gwich'in Tribal Council, and Wilf Wilcox, a businessman and former mayor of Cambridge Bay. The other members of the forum are:
-Joanne Deneron, a Fort Liard businesswoman and former chair of the Arctic College board of directors;
-George Blondin of Rae-Edzo, an elder and writer;
-Elijah Erkloo, an elder, the coordinator of Pond Inlet's young offenders program, a member of the Nunavut Social Advisory Council and a former MLA;
-Sandra Kusugak of Rankin Inlet, member of the Keewatin Divisional Board of Education and an education consultant; and,
-Thelma Tees, a long-standing member of the Metis Nation of the NWT, former director of Northern Addiction Services and currently the chairperson of the victims' assistance fund.
Mr. Speaker, the forum will provide information to the public on income support reform and help to increase public awareness and understanding of reform issues. The members of the forum will also seek the advice of northerners on how to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of income support programs and will forward this advice to me.
To reach these goals, the forum will hold focus group consultations on how changes in income support reform relate to social assistance, student financial assistance, child day care, unemployment insurance, harvesters' assistance and social housing. Discussions will focus on four critical areas: investment in work and learning; access and opportunities; community management; and, security. Specific questions to be discussed will include how we can encourage people to make productive choices which will lead them to independence and how we can ensure those most in need receive benefits.
We will also be asking advice on what our priorities should be in income support reform and how our partners can participate in the reform process. There will also be discussions around how we can encourage our youth to make positive contributions to the community and society.
Mr. Speaker, the focus group sessions will be held in Iqaluit, in fact they were held this past weekend, March 4th and 5th, and in Inuvik on March 25th and 26th. The forum will also invite interested organizations to make presentations in Yellowknife on March 28th. The forum will submit its report in April, after which I will present its findings to this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.