Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to draw attention to an ongoing issue in my region that has not been adequately addressed. This issue is the conflict between the government interpretation of their income support policies and the Dogrib people's definition of what makes up net monthly income.
It is the position of the Dogrib Treaty 11 Council that any payment made to individuals or families under the IBA funding is a direct result of the land claims process. As such, according to the Social Assistance Act, this money is exempt from the department's calculations of a person's net monthly income.
The problem that has occurred is that the 1999 treaty payments by the band to income support recipients were clawed back by the GNWT. Therefore, the payment went indirectly from the band to the territorial government. The people who these payments were intended for and through whose land claims have a right to these monies were penalized on the amount of their monthly support. This has been a long outstanding issue and has never been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties involved.
As a result, the Dogrib board and the leaders of the Treaty 11 Council would like to have more input into the design of the Income Support Program. They would like to develop policies that would impact the North Slave region. At the appropriate time, I will have questions for the Minister responsible for Education relating to this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause