The new rent scales that were introduced July 1, 2012, charge very low rent for low income households. If you make less than $1,677 a month, you pay $70 to $80 a month in rent. So I think that exempting Child Tax Benefit would have minimal impact on the rent that’s charged. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Premier doesn’t seem to at least review it and I’d like to ask the Premier one more time, will he and his Cabinet review this and to the point where how much benefit is this government actually getting by doing that, by taxing our low and middle income people and single parents. Thank you.

I don’t know if the Member is asking us to go back to the old rental scale that was in place, but as a government we’re always prepared to review our policies to make sure that they’re working the way they’re supposed to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have raised the issue and problems with home boarding of students in Inuvik several times in this House. Students from Tsiigehtchic and Sachs Harbour have nowhere else to go to complete their high school studies, but all too often home boarding does not work out and the students drop out of

school entirely. What is the Minister doing to secure a residence where students can stay during the months they have to study in Inuvik?

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This is an area that we closely monitor with the regional school board, and that would be the Beaufort-Delta. My department, Education, Culture and Employment, has informed me that there are approximately 20 students home boarding in Inuvik, including eight students from Sachs Harbour, 10 students from Tsiigehtchic and two from Fort McPherson. All students are in place except for the two that we’re still working on to place them in the community of Inuvik. So that is closely monitored by the superintendent and also the school board on those placements and the teachers are working closely with the students. So that’s an area that we continue to work with the school boards at this time. Mahsi.

One of the reasons home boarding doesn’t always work out well is that the students just don’t fit in where they are assigned to stay. How are families chosen to board students from Tsiigehtchic, Sachs Harbour and now Fort McPherson, and how are they screened to ensure they are the appropriate choices? Thank you.

The school board that we work closely with, especially the superintendent and the parents, to identify the students and where they should be staying and identifying the home boarding, the place of residence. Most especially the teachers have been closely monitoring where the students are staying. Eighty percent of the students we’re home boarding completed in the school year as well. There is a mechanism for teachers to closely monitor where the students are staying, if their homework and attendance are accurate, and continuously monitoring that.

When it comes to the students that are home boarding in Inuvik, there is a process in place where the school board would have to be informed by the parents and vice versa, and work together with our department, as well, so we can work closely with the Inuvik school as well. That’s part of the process that we continue to work with within our system.

Will the Minister be open to a proposal from either the Gwich’in Tribal Council or the Inuvialuit Development Corporation to offer home boarding for the students from the smaller communities?

I believe we are open to proposals that may be before us when it comes to opportunities to deal with these students.

We’re more than willing to work with the Gwich’in Tribal Council, if that’s the case. I will be meeting with the board chairs, as well, in December, to talk about the complexities of the home boarding and other educational factors that are before us, such as early childhood and other ASA and Aboriginal Languages Strategy. That is the discussion that we will be having. This will be part of the discussion that will be put on the table in the December meeting as well.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do believe I heard a yes there. I have no further questions at this time.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I’ve mentioned previously, we have a steering committee in place which consists of government and non-government NGOs and individuals who have lived in poverty. There is also a working group, which the Member has mentioned herself, which has pulled together and done two roundtables where they’ve had an opportunity to bring different information to the table. They all come with their own perspectives and program areas. They’ve had an opportunity to discuss the different program areas and set some priorities for an Anti-Poverty Strategy for the Northwest Territories.

Originally we had indicated that we wanted to have an Anti-Poverty Strategy in place by Christmas of this year. However, based on comments from Members, based on a suggestion and a request from the working group and the steering committee, Cabinet has agreed to extend that deadline. We have extended the deadline to March 31, 2013.

As the Member has indicated, we want an Anti-Poverty Strategy that is right for the people of the Northwest Territories. It’s not just a government strategy, it’s a strategy for the people, for governments, all governments, NGOs and industry. We want to get it right. We have extended the deadline.

I’d like to thank the Minister for that update and elaborate a bit on what the Premier had said earlier. I know that both the steering committee and the larger group at the roundtables have been working very hard and I know that they have been working on preparing a draft strategy, some kind of a document. I’d like to know from the Minister when this draft document might be available and at that time, when it is available, will it be given to Members and the general public for comments.

We had hoped that we would have something prior to Christmas for the Members to look at, but we are in negotiation with the working group right now, trying to discuss when exactly we might be able to get something to committee and to the public. As soon as I know that, and I will have conversations with the lead department on that, I will get that information to the Member. We hope to have something early or something draft-like for the Members to see prior to Christmas.

A draft-like, that’s an interesting term. I appreciate it. I think that’s a commitment to have a document out there that Members and the public can actually have some input on.

Can the Minister at this point give us any indication of what kind of consultation with the public will be done once this draft or draft-like document is available?

I strive to come up with new and creative terms. We will have the draft available. It will be shared with committee. We’ve also committed to taking this draft out to community governments, Aboriginal governments, sharing it with the NGOs, sharing with individuals who are actively engaged in trying to address poverty in the Northwest Territories. We will take that out in that way and have everybody give us some feedback before we finalize this NWT document.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad to see you didn’t cheat me of my last question. To the Minister, I’d like to ask, I appreciate the commitment that we’re going to, I think, have broad consultation on the document once it’s out there. I’d like to know if the Minister has any idea how long it will take, once the document is finalized, to start implementation.