Mr. Speaker, I would have to go back to the original intent of the program and that was that this program provides basic needs and they are fairly extensive here in the Northwest Territories, again, comparative to other jurisdictions and that may have been the confusing parts for other people to understand. The other part of the program is the productive choice program. That is a philosophy developed by this legislature, the previous one and we were adhering to it in the Towards a Better Tomorrow document, that we want productive, independent individuals so it gets away from that. Now, I know what the Member is saying, are we meeting the needs of people? Well, we do provide quite a bit of assistance to people, we provide housing needs, we provide the fuel needs, we provide the power needs in addition to food allowance, in addition to clothing allowance on a monthly basis plus on an annual basis for winter clothing and furniture allowance and things like that. It is not a great lifestyle, I am not suggesting that, Mr. Speaker, but it is providing the basic needs for our people in the Territories. I have to emphasize that no other jurisdiction provides that kind of support. It is essential in our territory, I believe in that, but we can't go beyond that or we are going to get to the point of having people being on income support earning a lot more than you could if you were out there in the workforce. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Jake Ootes on Question 360-14(6): Clawback Of The National Child Benefit Supplement
In the Legislative Assembly on October 2nd, 2003. See this statement in context.
Further Return To Question 360-14(6): Clawback Of The National Child Benefit Supplement
Question 360-14(6): Clawback Of The National Child Benefit Supplement
Item 7: Oral Questions
October 1st, 2003
Page 1154
See context to find out what was said next.