Mr. Speaker, the Financial Management Board Secretariat believes that it is following the directions set out by the arbitrator. I realize that some employees may have a different opinion of that ruling and we need to take those and walk them through. FMBS is attempting to follow what the arbitrator put in his ruling. As I say, if there is a way that I can help by helping the individual, we would be happy to try to do that, but I believe my department is doing what it is supposed to be doing. Even if we have a surplus, we cannot become careless. We have to follow the guidelines that are set.
Debates of Feb. 19th, 2001
This is page numbers 1051 - 1087 of the Hansard for the 14th Assembly, 3rd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was health.
Topics
Further Return To Question 330-14(3): Vacation Travel Assistance Provided To Arctic Airports Employees
Question 330-14(3): Vacation Travel Assistance Provided To Arctic Airports Employees
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1061
Further Return To Question 330-14(3): Vacation Travel Assistance Provided To Arctic Airports Employees
Question 330-14(3): Vacation Travel Assistance Provided To Arctic Airports Employees
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1061
Supplementary To Question 330-14(3): Vacation Travel Assistance Provided To Arctic Airports Employees
Question 330-14(3): Vacation Travel Assistance Provided To Arctic Airports Employees
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1061
Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to hear that this government will follow the rules it has put in place for itself. Mr. Speaker, I will take that commitment, but I would like to know when do I meet with him to give him names of individuals? What kind of a timeline will he have for responses and working with these individuals? Thank you.
Supplementary To Question 330-14(3): Vacation Travel Assistance Provided To Arctic Airports Employees
Question 330-14(3): Vacation Travel Assistance Provided To Arctic Airports Employees
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1061
The Speaker Tony Whitford
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Handley.
Further Return To Question 330-14(3): Vacation Travel Assistance Provided To Arctic Airports Employees
Question 330-14(3): Vacation Travel Assistance Provided To Arctic Airports Employees
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1061
Joe Handley Weledeh
Mr. Speaker, I know my department is busy without having talked to them about this matter. I would say we will attempt to have this resolved before the end of this sitting. Thank you.
Further Return To Question 330-14(3): Vacation Travel Assistance Provided To Arctic Airports Employees
Question 330-14(3): Vacation Travel Assistance Provided To Arctic Airports Employees
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1061
The Speaker Tony Whitford
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.
Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1061
Leon Lafferty North Slave
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, the Honourable Jake Ootes. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, I shared a very disturbing situation which happened to one of my constituents. Although she is diagnosed with a life threatening illness and has been told she needs chemotherapy, she could not afford to begin her treatments in Yellowknife. She needed funds to get accommodations in Yellowknife, but the income support workers clawed the money back all because of the IBA payments, knowing full well that this woman needed medical treatment. They did this because they were following policy.
Our mandate is to serve the people we represent. It seems to me that as a government, we are not being very effective. My question for the Minister is what communications exist between income support and the health department to ensure that clients receive the help they need when a situation becomes a medical concern over a financial one? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1061
The Speaker Tony Whitford
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.
Return To Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1061
Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This sounds like a very unfortunate situation that occurred. I do not know all of the details that Mr. Lafferty referred to on Friday. There was some references to IBA payments and the clawback on that.
We are, as I mentioned on Friday, looking at the IBA payments. I should state also that our income support policy is one of providing rent and support for fuel costs and rent costs when an individual is on income support.
With respect to the question about coordination with Health and Social Services, certainly on a ministerial level, we are always coordinating and meeting and we are doing so more frequently. I do not know what occurs at the operational level, Mr. Speaker. It is something I would have to check into.
Return To Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1061
Supplementary To Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1061
Leon Lafferty North Slave
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister if the Minister can tell me if the department will look at changing income support policies so that clients are not penalized if they need lifesaving medical treatment because of the policy? Thank you.
Supplementary To Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1061
The Speaker Tony Whitford
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.
Further Return To Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1061
Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, that is a subject we would have to look into. We would have to coordinate with the Department of Health and Social Services to see what areas of support the department provides. They may provide special programs in instances such as this. Therefore, I would have to state that we would look at the situation but would have to coordinate that with the Department of Health and Social Services. Thank you.
Further Return To Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1061
Supplementary To Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1061
Leon Lafferty North Slave
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister if he can direct his department to begin changing these policies before any lives are lost, all because some of our people cannot receive medical attention just because of policies? Thank you.
Supplementary To Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1062
The Speaker Tony Whitford
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.
Further Return To Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1062
Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I stated on Friday that I have the department looking at the impact benefit agreements and how they will be treated in the income support area. We do provide, as I stated earlier, housing support and fuel support through the income support program. We would have to look at seeing what areas we need to coordinate and what areas have responsibility in the Department of Health and Social Services. Thank you.
Further Return To Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1062
Supplementary To Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1062
Leon Lafferty North Slave
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister if he and his department can get back to me before the session is over with these changes, if they are going to have any? Thank you.
Supplementary To Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1062
The Speaker Tony Whitford
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.
Further Return To Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1062
Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I stated on Friday, we are keenly interested in looking at areas that perhaps have to be addressed in the income support area. The impact benefit agreements is one area that I mentioned. I also stated, upon a question from the honourable Member for Great Slave, that I would provide the information to Members so that there could be some understanding and input into this area with regard to impact benefit agreements and perhaps other issues that may arise with regard to income support. Thank you.
Further Return To Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Question 331-14(3): Income Support And Payments From Impact Benefit Agreements
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1062
The Speaker Tony Whitford
Thank you, Minister Ootes. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.
Question 332-14(3): Recruitment Of Qualified Northern Teachers
Item 6: Oral Questions
February 18th, 2001
Page 1062
Paul Delorey Hay River North
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my Member's statement, I want to recognize the recruitment drive that the Department of Education has undertaken across Canada to recruit teachers for our education system. It has been brought to my attention in light of that recruitment drive, that we do have some teachers working as SNAs in our education system right now who are actually qualified teachers but are experiencing some difficulty when it comes to applying on jobs. In some cases, they do not even get an interview.
I was wondering if the Minster could inform the House if he is aware of how many teachers we have in this position who are working as SNAs yet are designated teachers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Question 332-14(3): Recruitment Of Qualified Northern Teachers
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1062
The Speaker Tony Whitford
Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.
Return To Question 332-14(3): Recruitment Of Qualified Northern Teachers
Question 332-14(3): Recruitment Of Qualified Northern Teachers
Item 6: Oral Questions
Page 1062
Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not familiar with the number of individuals who are student needs assistants who are qualified as teachers. Certainly the issue is one I will do some work on and find out exactly, if I can get the names of the individuals, exactly what the issue and concern is with regard to these particular individuals and as well, do some research on those particular positions throughout the Northwest Territories.