Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. There was a question there; I'll put it to the Minister. Thank you. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member talked about the increase in payments in income support in the region. One of the things that have driven up the payments is that benefit levels have substantially increased since 1999. The amount that is paid for food, the amount that is paid for accommodation, all of those payments have gone up substantially since 1999. We have a very rich program in comparison to the rest of Canada. Is it rich to people who have to try and get by on it? No. It is a program of last resort. But, yes, the costs have gone up in some regions because the benefits have increased substantially.

The issue of whether or not we would separate it into a number of different programs; in fact, one of the issues that I will be talking to the Standing Committee on Social Programs about is reducing the numbers of programs that we have, because as a policy the government should have a consistent approach to how benefits are provided to people in the Northwest Territories. Therefore, in fact, the policy framework that I mentioned to Mr. Braden that I will be presenting to the standing committee will propose that there be fewer categories, not more. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad to hear that the Minister is looking forward to making some changes in the program. I just wanted to ask the Minister about some of the client information that trickles down to the grassroots level from the policies that are in the Income Support Program. A lot of the income support officers in the communities don't have the information available to them to present to clients to make a lot of productive choices. They don't have information on human resource capacity building programs with the federal government; therefore, they can't pass them on to the clients to make some productive choices, and they don't have information on the jobs available in the mines, training programs and such. So a lot of these officers basically are being blamed by their clients for the lack of information they receive and the lack of support and reassessment in the whole program that they're delivering. I just want to ask the Minister if he would be willing to provide some direction to the Income Support Program management that information for human resource capacity building, job creation, education and all that, that he makes sure that all this information does get down to the grassroots where the people really need it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our income support workers undergo regular training, they have a number of occasions a year in which they are provided with information to make sure that they can pass this on to their clients. If the Member has a concern about a particular community, I hope that he will come and talk to me about it and we will address that as quickly as we can. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Your final supplementary, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would be glad to meet with the Minister sometime to talk about some new policy initiatives that I would have in mind on how we could better support individuals' needs, as opposed to just offering people what the government has to offer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. I didn't hear a question in there. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a corporation, we do have units that are designated for people with disabilities. The people who do come forward through the corporation to access our units are given priority, and there are units that are designated for people with disabilities. I'm not too sure if the Member is talking about clients in the Housing Corporation units through North Slave housing or other housing co-operatives that are here in Yellowknife, or if you're talking in general. Maybe the Member could clarify his question.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not sure if it really matters, because the fact is accessible living should be accessible living, so it should be considered a standard regardless of which envelope they fall under. Mr. Speaker, I will make a true commitment that the landlord did make an effort: they widened doors and they put in bigger showers. But, Mr. Speaker, when I have a person in a wheelchair who can't even reach his towel, he has to throw it on the floor or half in the shower. My question really is what policy do we have under the responsibility of the Housing Corporation, under their arm, their ability, under their policy wing, for accessible living for people who are disabled? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do have programs to assist the private sector, seniors and people with disabilities, with regard to different maintenance programs. If that means assisting them by way of having the equipment there that will make life easier for people with disabilities by way of bathroom attachments to the walls so they're able to have access to get in and out of the washrooms, I think those types of things we do have different programs through the corporation, through the home repair program, through the maintenance program for seniors and people with disabilities. So with regard to the Member's question, we are working with the people in the private sector who are able to access the different programs that we deliver. I think it's incumbent upon ourselves here, as Members of the Legislature, to improve the lives of people with disabilities. We do have arrangements, but again they are programs that people have to apply for through the corporation to be able to facilitate and also make these adjustments. So we do have programs through our different maintenance programs to assist in that area.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate what the Minister is saying, but, Mr. Speaker, my constituents have bare cupboards. Their cupboards are bare. I will say clearly why: because they can't reach them, Mr. Speaker. I went into one unit; the dishes were dirty because they can't wash them. Every time they reach over the counter, their arms are halfway in the buckets of water in the sink. Mr. Speaker, if you were one of these constituents of mine, and you are trying to get food out of the oven, and you are in a wheelchair or on a scooter or stroller because you have MS, you can only reach with one hand. How do you wheel yourself back to the counter with those things out of the oven? It is impossible. So, Mr. Speaker, we have to be looking at some type of audit on these units. I would certainly like to hear today, because these folks are not living with pride, Mr. Speaker. These folks are living in almost horrific conditions. So, Mr. Speaker, I would like to hear from the Minister today that he would commit to do an audit on these units and deliver a clear policy in the Housing Corporation that demonstrates accessible living as meant to be done in a safe and healthy fashion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would direct the department to look into that and see how many units we do presently have that have accessibility for people with disabilities. I know we do have them in most of our communities, so I won't have a problem getting that information to the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. I was going to follow up with some questions to the Minister of MACA with regard to my Member's statement. MACA officials and the Minister met with the community of Nahanni Butte. The community had indicated that this particular item is a high priority for them. It is my thinking that a community's priority is our priority. Can the Minister confirm that the government still has no plans to provide the residents of Nahanni Butte with a gymnasium until the year 2017?

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. We have looked at the situation with the community of Nahanni Butte. Unfortunately, capital projects of that nature have to compete with other infrastructure needs in the communities. At this point, there is no intention of trying to move that facility up. We are working with the community. We have provided some funding for a youth

facility through our Community Initiatives Program. But, at this point, we haven't been able to commit to requesting that facility be moved up. It has to compete with other infrastructure and makes it very difficult. Thank you.