Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, I think, along with the income support recipients across the NWT, I find that news disappointing. I would like to ask the Minister, what about the concept of the approach of universality and fairness to all Northerners when it comes to our income tax system and being able to retain the benefits from it? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have stated, we have to consider the philosophy of the program, Mr. Speaker, in terms of the amount of support that we can provide to individuals. A balance has to be maintained between an income support earner and a low wage earner and it is reaching the point where there is and can substantially be a difference in balance, Mr. Speaker. What happens then is that it is no longer possible to be a low income earner and instead revert to the system of income support.

By way of example, Mr. Speaker, the possibility is there for a family of four to be in the range of $29,900 a year on income support, which translates into, for an individual, approximately $18 an hour. If we do not take into consideration all of the areas that individuals can get support from then there is no longer an incentive, Mr. Speaker, to have the productive choice system in place. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister makes a good point and I too am a supporter of the productive choice concept behind the income support program. However, I am also aware that in the new provisions of the program I think there is a provision in it for a monthly income of up to $200 for an individual and $400 for a family. I was wondering if this kind of thing could be incorporated in that to be allowed as some income that income support recipients could rely on to help them get ahead in our high cost of living area? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is a possibility for a family to earn $400 a month or $200 as an individual. That would be considered as earned income. How the definition of this tax would be interpreted is subject to interpretation, of course, and that is something I would have to check out to see whether it would fall under a reimbursement for dollars earned or whether it would be considered unearned income. I cannot answer that question here, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Your final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We keep going back and forth on some of these ideas about income support and I know that the question of impact benefit payments to some people in the Northwest Territories is still a question. When, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister come back and advise us on the status of the minimum cost of living tax credit for income support recipients? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes; when, when, when? Mr. Speaker, this will take a bit of work to iron out as you can appreciate. It is a tax situation; how is that interpreted, how does it get into the individual's hand, what did the individual earn throughout the year? There are some complications in order to ensure that this does receive an appropriate decision and appropriate interpretation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister responsible for the public service. In a previous Member's statement in this session, Mr. Speaker, I said if there is no Public Service Commission, then what? I know that the government has been working on human resource management issues, and I would like to know what the status of that work is at this time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for the public service, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Both our compensation and labour relations sections of the Financial Management Board Secretariat and the corporate human resources section of the Executive are working together on a number of initiatives to improve our GNWT human resource management activities. I could go on for some time describing what is happening, but we have been focusing on a number of areas.

One is creating a framework and some strategies for human resource plans; improving the skills of our people in human resource management, that is the skills of people both in the regions and at the headquarters level; looking for organizational efficiencies on how we do things; clarifying roles and responsibilities between departments and individuals within departments; and, looking at pension reform. That is essential because of the opting out by the federal government, and also in making a shift from just simply being an affirmative action program to what will be called an employment equity program.

Those will be some of the main activities that are underway right now, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that does sound like a fairly comprehensive review and comprehensive undertaking. Inasmuch as we are anxious to hear the outcome of these activities, we would also like the Minister's assurances that there is going to be an opportunity for meaningful input from Members on this side of this House. Could the Minister outline for us what he has planned in that regard? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for the public service, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today we provided the AOC with an overview of some of these activities on everything right from all of the ones I outlined as well as staffing appeals and some options we may want to look at there. I will commit to meeting whenever AOC wants in order to review some of these and also to consult with AOC on any steps we are taking before we finalize those decisions. I am open as often as AOC has time to sit down to have an in-depth discussion on any one or all of them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is the transition then from affirmative action to employment equity, is that a direction that has already been decided on and is being moved on? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for the public service, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, we are moving in that direction. I want to clarify as well that it is not as if we take the affirmative action policy and throw it in the garbage can and then start with an employment equity program. I see employment equity as being something that is broader and incorporates a lot of the pieces of affirmative action that we have had for a number of years. Those will stay in place. We will continue to have the same intention of having human resources in our government that is representative of the population.

Employment equity is broader though than just affirmative action. It takes in a lot of other pieces that sometimes get in the way of people being able to get jobs in government. We are looking, as I mentioned, at the skill levels of our people to be able to ensure that people have fair access and the processes we use for hiring people. People do not have to go through oral interviews if there are other ways of doing them. We want to look at that. We want to look at our pension reform. A whole host of things that ensure that all people in the North have equal opportunity to have jobs in the public service. It does not replace affirmative action, but it is much broader than affirmative action. Thank you.