This is page numbers 1521 - 1560 of the Hansard for the 15th 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 housing.

Topics

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1555

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. One final question, because I don't have an oral question for tomorrow. Would the Minister be able to provide it by 9:00 in the morning? Is that too early? That was the question.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1555

The Chair

The Chair David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Minister.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

I don't believe we can get it to the Member that quickly, no. We have had people working on Mr. Villeneuve's written question now for a few days and we have not managed to put all the information together. So, no. I would do my best to get him the information sometime tomorrow, but it won't be before question period, no.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1555

The Chair

The Chair David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Hawkins.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Nothing further at this time, Mr. Chairman. I will take his commitment and accept them sometime tomorrow. Thank you.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Braden.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Bill Braden

Bill Braden Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I guess, for the record, I would like to back up maybe a page or two into the overall income security area and state again, for the record, one area of difficulty that our overall income security problem has caused and this is for people with disabilities who are recognized as having long-term disabilities and warrant this kind of support. It's the right thing to do, of course. However, Mr. Chairman, our policies have not progressed to those points where they really seemed to recognize that people with disabilities very often cannot work or are quite restricted in their ability to go out and work. Yet, they are regarded, they are administered, they are monitored as if they were able-bodied people who, once they overcome this certain difficulty in their life, will be able to return to work and either decrease their dependency on the income security system or get off of it altogether. The difficulty this causes for people is they come under an unwarranted degree of scrutiny in their monthly/yearly activities.

One area, for instance, is any income that they may earn is checked against them. If the idea of income security is

to provide a top-up so that they can at least survive, that's fine. I think people with long-term disabilities should be afforded a different set of circumstances. I will use the word less intrusive kind of treatment. So perhaps the Minister can advise whether we are looking at any kind of change in that policy. I have outlined this concern before. For the record, I wanted to make it again to say that we do have a deficiency in our policy and we tend to regard people with disabilities the same way that we regard able-bodied people, and this does cause them unneeded stress and difficulties in their normal course of life.

So I will put that on the record. I know that's an area we have pledged to work on in our overall review of income security programs and I do hope that we get there. Thank you.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1556

The Chair

The Chair David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Minister.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just today I got an e-mail message from an MLA who said a constituent of theirs who is disabled and has lived in another jurisdiction commented to them that ours is probably the best system in Canada for disabled people, in terms of supports.

I think we need to be careful not to say that people with challenges, whether they are physical or intellectual, all want to be treated differently. I think a lot of people feel that they are able to participate and want to be treated like others, so each person is an individual. We have people who you might call severely disabled who are pay-rolled. In other words, they just get a regular payroll cheque, no intervention, every month. Other people may not be as challenged. Those people are expected to participate more and make productive choices.

So it is an individual situation. It's not one where everybody is treated with a cookie cutter and they are not all dealt with the same. If you or your constituent feel that their situation should be looked at differently, they should talk to their income support worker about that and if they are not satisfied, then try appealing the decision, because there is a process to work it through and people should feel that they are being treated fairly. That's the goal of the system. If you feel that you have an example that is not happening, then we should follow up on it.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Braden.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Bill Braden

Bill Braden Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will take the advice there. There have been a couple of forums in Yellowknife on this area related specifically to housing and people with disabilities, but there were concerns voiced there about how some of the aspects of our system do treat them. I will take the Minister's suggestion that there is flexibility in the system and I would be happy to work with constituents to see if we can resolve their cases. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Minister.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I guess I would also remind Members that they are welcome to work as advocates for their constituents, working in person with them. If at any time they are not satisfied that things are being done properly, the appeals system is set up to deal with that.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Zoe.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Henry Zoe

Henry Zoe North Slave

Finally, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to ask the Minister with regard to income support, when was the last survey done to determine the rates that are currently in income support pertaining to food and clothing?

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1556

The Chair

The Chair David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Zoe. Mr. Minister.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We raised the rates in 2004. There is a survey done every two years, in conjunction with the Audit Bureau, and we typically try to raise the rates or change the rates as they need to reflect the cost of living in different communities.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1556

The Chair

The Chair David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Zoe.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Henry Zoe

Henry Zoe North Slave

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So all these income support workers at the community level have different rate structures pertaining to food, clothing, et cetera.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1556

The Chair

The Chair David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Zoe. Mr. Minister.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes. I misspoke; I meant to say the Bureau of Statistics and not the Audit Bureau does the surveys.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1556

The Chair

The Chair David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Zoe.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

February 24th, 2005

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Henry Zoe

Henry Zoe North Slave

It appears to me that the survey wasn't done for the last little while. It appears that the amount of money that the people who are on income support weren't receiving adequate funding for their food and clothing. Mr. Chairman, my understanding is that a lot of these people, especially single-parent families, particularly for clothing, it's not done on a monthly basis when they get their income. Is it done only once or one time? That seems to be the problem, Mr. Chairman, because if you qualify for income support and it happens to be in May, you don't qualify for clothing. That seems to be a problem in various communities across the North. Could I ask the Minister if I'm correct in that area, where the clients are eligible for clothing? Thank you.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1556

The Chair

The Chair David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Zoe. Mr. Minister.

Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Charles Dent

Charles Dent Frame Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I suspect that the Member is referring to the seasonal clothing allowance, which is a bigger chunk of money on an occasional basis to reflect the need for warmer clothing, for instance, to get through the winter. That is only given out at certain times during the year, and typically only to people who have been on income support for a period of time. As I said in an earlier response, people tend to cycle on and off the system. So if they come in just needing support for a month, the expectation isn't that right off the bat they're going to get that funding right then. It's three months...or six months; sorry. If they're on it for six months, then they qualify for the seasonal clothing adjustment.