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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Later on today I will be tabling the financial case report dated this month for this constituent. It will obviously demonstrate that our system does not respond to these kinds of needs.

My second question in the same light, Mr. Speaker, why does the Government of the Northwest Territories talk about investing in children and yet not address the very real poverty of families? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, the government does provide support for families in need through the Income Support Program. As well, through our early childhood and other programs, we are investing up to $4 million per year in support of young children.

I think the amounts we are providing in income support are meant to be sufficient. On top of that, we have, over the last couple of years, undergone two major initiatives to support children. I think the government is doing a lot and as much as we can, given our resources. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will restate again my support for the principles of the program. For cases such as my constituent, the program is just not sufficient to cover even their most basic needs and the system is not at all sensitive to these anomalies, which, in fact, the system itself creates.

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask very plainly, what kind of backup can our income support system provide when a family of four ends up, after clawbacks, with only $100 to buy food and clothing for the month? What can we do?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, our Income Support Program is designed as a last resort program to help people meet their basic needs. We do allow people a lot of latitude on unearned income. In fact, there is a whole number of areas where we do not take back or deduct unearned income.

We also allow a single person up to $200 in earned income and a family up to $400 in earned income. Those are meant to encourage people to go back to work as well as to give them enough to meet their basic needs. If, in some cases, we want to allow people to keep all of those earnings, then we are really talking about a guaranteed annual income program, which is philosophically quite different than what we have now.

As I said before, if families are having difficulties, then I would suggest they go back and get a reassessment of their situation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess this shows, Mr. Speaker, the dilemma, the endless cycle that our system has built into it now. I know you are going to be tough with timing here, so I will just get right to the next question, Mr. Speaker. Will this government follow the lead of a number of other Canadian jurisdictions and finally see the benefit and the merit of restoring the National Child Benefit Supplement to families in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, certainly I am willing to have a look at that. I am willing to talk to Mr. Ootes, when he returns, about it but that is a major shift if we were to do that. It would mean dropping some other programs we have to assist families who are getting back into the workforce. We are taking back, deducting that money, and using it to support programs to help families get back into the workforce.

I am certainly open to discussing it further with the committee, with the Member, and I will discuss it with Mr. Ootes when he returns. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a result of our tour of the facilities that my colleague just referenced, we are following up on some specific cases where we toured facilities that had northern residents, where there were some initial thoughts based on what we saw that the service could be provided in the North.

As a broader matter of practice, as I indicated yesterday in this House to Mr. Krutko, this is an issue that we constantly try to assess so we can plan to try and repatriate whenever possible, either for supported living or some kind of facility for children and adults that we can sustain and provide in the North. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is going to be an ongoing process. In some cases, we may be able to repatriate individual clients. In some cases, if it looks like there is a sustainable, long-term need, then it makes good sense, as my colleagues have indicated, to look at a service delivery structure in the North that employs Northerners and is in the North for northern people. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will take the Member's comments under consideration. I know the facility of which he speaks. There have been some changes in circumstances. I agree, if there are facilities here, we should be looking at trying to use them.