Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment continues to improve its income security programs to ensure that residents of the Northwest Territories receive the support they need to tackle barriers they face to enter the workforce and meet their financial needs.
In April 2009, the office of the Auditor General began its financial and performance audits of income security programs in the Northwest Territories, completed in September 2012. In anticipation of recommendations coming from the audit, the department has already begun work to improve accountability and streamline services.
To highlight some of the recent changes we have already made, we improved upon the Child Care User Subsidy program by including it as an enhanced benefit under the Income Assistance program. We have increased child care rates, introduced shorter payment wait times, and are supporting part-time daycare. We have also made the program more flexible to accommodate our clients who work more than the standard work week. Mr. Speaker, we are very pleased to announce that, as a result, participation in the program has increased by 56 percent. These changes also support our early childhood
development initiatives targeted at raising healthy children.
In December 2012, the department set up a new exemption for clients that receive Impact Benefit Agreement, Treaty and land claims payments up to $500 per household. This is in addition to the annual $1,200 exemption. Neither of these exemptions affects clients’ benefit levels. This change recognizes that these monies should actually benefit those who are affected by development and not penalize those at a lower income level.
I am also happy to announce a partnership with the Department of Justice to allow fully eligible clients to pay for criminal record suspensions as an income assistance benefit. This partnership will assist clients in attaining valuable employment and help to strengthen the Northern economy.
Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize the client service officers who deliver this program across the territory. These workers often come from the community and face enormous stress every day to balance the need for supporting people’s progress and the need to account for program expenditures. As a rule, they treat people with respect and dignity and diligently focus on promoting healthy and productive choices for their clients.
We recognize that we have more work to do to meet the needs of our income assistance clients. With the pending recommendations from the Auditor General and the improvements we are already making, I am confident we are on the right path to ensure we have healthy, educated people free from poverty. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.