Mr. Speaker, we can certainly pose that question to Indian Affairs. Once again, it is not the committee that we control. We can’t really tell them where to go and who to talk to. They have indicated they have a plan to consult the northern consumers. They have a plan to talk to the stakeholders. We have requested them to provide some appropriate people to come and meet with the standing committee. We certainly can try to get a schedule of the communities they plan to visit or how they plan to do the consultation. I would be glad to share that with the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are directed to the Minister of ECE. It is in regards to my Member’s statement on the challenges that we are facing in our small communities, especially the delivery of housing in regards to the economic rent that is being charged by local housing authorities. More importantly, the ECE program by way of income support in regards to how we are supposed to approve services that are in our communities.

I think one thing that is lacking is that we don’t really look at the social and economic viability in a lot of our communities. One of the things I see is that we have a high pocket of unemployment in our communities. We know statistically what the total household incomes are in a lot of our small communities. In most cases, it is less than $40,000 per household, yet in Yellowknife it is in excess of $120,000 per household and yet the programs are delivering in the same sort of policy. I would like to ask the Minister of ECE, in light of the plans that took place between the Housing Corporation and ECE in regards to the Income Support Program and the housing supp, the Housing Corporation had a policy in place before the transfer took place which basically allowed a tenant of the Housing Corporation who was unemployed for a period of time to basically transition into employment for a couple of months so that they can be able to get a job, but, more importantly, retain some of those earnings so that they can purchase items that they need and prepare them so that when they do get charged economic rent, that they have the resources to do so and not use the hammer approach where you basically nail them with the first pay cheque they get and take as much as you can and then say, here, go to work the next day. I think this program is not working. I would like to ask the Minister of ECE: Would he consider that policy and implement that policy, which was in the Housing Corporation, in light of what has happened in our communities?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I do appreciate the Member’s questions in this area. That has been brought up on previous occasions at our deliberations with the communities and also the Members when we were before them. Certainly it has been delivered by the NWT Housing Corporation for a period of one year in 2003. At that time, it wasn’t really an effective program. There were only four intakes from the clientele. We are looking at other jurisdictions on how we can successfully and effectively deliver the program.

We are looking at the great period that the Member is alluding to. This is an area that we talked about. Now we are developing a proposal on a working centre because we certainly are supporting individuals that should enter the workforce. We are doing what we can as a department. Certainly we are looking into that. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in the economic reality, what we are facing here in the Northwest Territories, especially with the downturn in the oil and gas industry, especially in my riding in the Beaufort-Delta, we are seeing people finding it harder and harder to get a job. Whatever jobs they can get, like I stated earlier, are short-term jobs. I know the Minister of ECE, who is also responsible for education, culture and developing the people for the workforce that we have to ensure that the policies we have are not hindering people from actually going to work. If anything, we are penalizing them to go to work. I would like to ask the Minister: Would you not only look at what is happening within Housing but look at the policies within ECE programs to ensure that there is some sort of a transitional period that allows for individuals who want to basically take training or get a job, being able to sustain some sort of a lifestyle without totally taking away all of their income by way of these policies that this government administers? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, certainly, as I stated, we do support the communities. The members can take on any job that is available to them. We are involved with the various programs, whether it be with the federal or territorial government. Just today I have announced the Labour Market Development Initiative that certainly will provide more opportunities for individuals that the Member is speaking of. It also deals with the income support clientele as well. Also we do have a Ready to Work Program where we provide basic skills and training to individuals who are on income support so we can get them off income support and through the workforce level. Not only that, Mr. Speaker, we work closely with the Housing Corporation with their new Housing Initiative. The funds have been announced. Where some individuals have been paying high rent, they can certainly get into a program. We continue to deliver those programs, but we are trying to meet the needs of the communities. I appreciate the Member asking the question in that area. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister: How soon can he come back to the House in light of his discussions he is going to have with the Minister of Housing to relook at this policy that was in place prior to this decision to consolidate income programs into one? I would like to ask the Minister: How soon can he come back to the House

with that discussion or even a draft policy that we can look at as Members on this side of the House?

Mr. Speaker, certainly we need to expedite this process because we have been discussing this within our internal departments, both my department and also the NWT Housing Corporation. We can certainly say within a couple of months. We want to have at least a draft discussion with members of the standing committee and get their input into the system and move forward on a decision that could be made at that time. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to ask the Minister if he would clearly consider looking at the economic and political realities in a lot of our communities as I mentioned earlier. The incomes are a lot different in our smaller remote communities compared to our larger regional centres like Yellowknife and that being taken into consideration whenever you develop a policy. Consider the high unemployment rates. Consider the social and economic conditions in our communities so that we do have policies that are not territorial-wide but they are structured, work with those communities, get them productive and we can see a change in the lifestyle of our people and in our communities. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, again, thank you to the Member because my department certainly is monitoring our discussion here today. They certainly are discussing what the Member is alluding to. Certainly we like to hear the input of Regular Members as well. Those are experts around the table from the communities. They need to provide the information to us that we can implement our programs so we are looking forward to that. I am looking forward to meeting with the standing committee at a later date. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I have some questions for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. It gets back to something I have been talking about previously. That is mining and resource development here in the Northwest Territories. Our modern day economy was founded on resource development. It remains a cornerstone of our economy today and I think we are fooling ourselves if we look into the future and resource development is not a key component to our economy and the future development of this Territory.

I have some questions regarding the elimination of the Grubstake Program, Mr. Speaker. It was only $65,000 but it got prospectors started out on the land looking for mineral deposits. I think it is not the amount of money that really bothers me; it is the principle and what is going to fill the void and how are we going to get people involved in prospecting and the message that it sends. The first question that I have to the Minister is: What was the rationale for cutting the Grubstake Program and what will replace it, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The rationale for reducing spending in this area was for a number of reasons, primarily the lessened demand for this funding program, the uncertainty and the returns of investment and also we had a need to reprioritize our expenditures. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, from the time a mineral deposit is discovered and potentially a mine is developed or there is some more potential there, it can take upwards of a decade. I think it is important that, as a government, we send the message that we are open for business. We want to get prospectors out on the land. The Minister didn’t answer the question. What will replace the program or how is the government getting that message out there that we are interested in prospectors getting out and finding some other mineral deposits here in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as a government or as a department, we saw the need to refocus our efforts into the areas of land use and regulatory initiatives and to maintain some of the existing programs we have in our geoscience department. I think you have to remember that the federal government is responsible for mining in the Northwest Territories and other northern territories. We will communicate your concern to the federal Minister responsible for mining. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, going forward, then, what I am hearing from the Minister is that the government will not have any support to prospectors that want to get out on the land and do prospecting in the Northwest Territories. Our government will have no support for them. Is that what I am hearing from the Minister? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I didn’t say that. I said I would communicate his concern about the lack of support for prospectors to the federal government. We already have existing programs that prospectors can access for funding through application. If it is seen as a priority need, we are starting our business planning process and we can

address that through that process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my Member’s statement was on calculation of income support. Will the government review the policies used to calculate the tenant’s income for the month rent for the NWT housing unit to ensure fairness and consistency regardless of the employer or the situation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The settlement allowance that the Member is referring to in his Member’s statement does cover areas of different subsidies, whether it be clothing, fuel subsidy or transportation. Our Income Security Program covers the clothing and the fuel, so we need to separate those items. I think it is a simple request from the tenants to talk to their employer to say if they can have it as a vacation travel as opposed to a general subsidy program, they could be exempted from our Income Security Program if we go that avenue. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.