This is page numbers 4135 – 4182 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 5th 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 going.

Topics

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up from my Member’s statement earlier today with questions for the Minister of ECE. I would like to know why we treat people differently, depending on how much money they make. Recognizing that the Minister is working hard on this issue, could the Minister explain what is the underlying philosophy as to why the system his department operates inherently treats people who

are living in poverty with less respect than other people? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Within the income support division, we treat everybody equally and respectfully and there is a reporting mechanism that is in place. We have to work closely with the office of the Auditor General that did the overall, intensive and comprehensive review of our income support division. Based on the feedback that we received from the office of the Auditor General, there’s a guideline we have to follow. The regulations have been established. The reporting mechanism is a key front of the discussion that we have with clientele. They have to report, whether it be income classification, the documentation that needs to be submitted. Those are some of the questions that the client service officers ask to those individuals, but the individuals aren’t treated differently. We have to treat everybody equally, as much as we can, throughout the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thanks to the Minister. I know that the Minister is working hard on this. Unfortunately, it’s an inherent thing that I think even enters the policy-maker’s view of things and ends up with these policies that create poverty traps.

The Minister recently provided information in a response to a written question on the cost of running our income security programs. Income support spent $3.5 million to distribute $16 million. In comparison, Student Financial Assistance costs $660,000 to distribute $16 million while the cost of living tax distributed $21.5 million and did not cost us anything. Why does the Income Support Program cost millions more to run when it distributes less money to fewer people? Mahsi.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Mahsi. When we talk about the income support division, it does consist of various programs and part of it is the seniors’ home heating subsidy, income assistance in general to support those individuals and providing assistance to residents 19 years of age and over for basic food necessities, shelter and clothing expenses and we have to attend to those most vulnerable individuals in the communities, the clientele. So, these are just some of the areas: NWT territorial workers supplement, NWT child tax, senior citizens supplementary benefits, SFA. All of these fall under income support. So, yes, the number the Member highlights, $3.5 million to distribute $16 million, obviously our target is to get people off income support. That’s why we’re focusing on a Labour Market Agreement with the federal government to allocate this towards the readiness for work and we’re doing what we can as a department to alleviate that, but this is what we

have to date with the policies that are driven. So, we’ll continue to stress that with the constituencies and also with the federal government for job readiness. Mahsi.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

The Minister and I have the same goals and what I’m saying is, after decades of failure, keeping people in poverty, recognizing this government’s commitment to get out of poverty, help people get out of poverty, let’s do some changes here and I’m suggesting some.

The Minister recently announced a clearly sensible policy that recipients of Student Financial Assistance will only have to report every three months instead of monthly. We are all aware that we have to fill out our annual tax returns pretty soon.

Why does the department continue to require that income support paperwork be completed month after month after month? Mahsi.

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Again, I will have to reflect back on the office of the Auditor General. As you know, they are here this week as part of the review process for Health and Social Services, as we did last year. It’s a very comprehensive review that they’re going through and we must follow the guidelines and they strictly highlight the reporting mechanism, not only that but the monthly reporting mechanism, how we should be working with the clientele. So, all the documents are in place.

Those are just some of the guidelines we have to follow, the regulations that are before us and through the legislation that has been through this House is part of the process that we have to go through. Again, with the policies, policies can also go through changes. We made some changes in 2007, drastic changes, and every year we go through the review process of the policies. Those are just some of the options that we’ll consider. Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Bob Bromley

Bob Bromley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister doesn’t know that we make those policies, we make those guidelines, we make those regulations, we have the power. When an elder becomes eligible for a pension, no one asks them if they have spent every penny and sold their vehicle before they are eligible. When a business owner goes bankrupt they are allowed to keep their registered retirement savings. So why does the income support system require a single parent who cannot work because they are looking after their children to use up all their assets before they are eligible for income support and thus create this poverty trap?

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty Monfwi

Again, we’re following the guidelines of what has been passed in this House. Yes, we changed those policies, we

changed that legislation, the regulations in this House. At the same time, we have to follow the office of the Auditor General. Simply, there are strict guidelines for us to follow. Obviously, we don’t want to break those policies, those programs, those regulations that are in place. At this point there’s a reason for it. At the same time, the reporting mechanism is in place for various reasons. There are individuals who may be going through certain stages. We need to identify if there has been some deposits into their bank accounts, and there are times where there is no reason given why there is a substantial amount of funds in their account. Those are just simplistic reasons why we need to know, because income support is a basic necessity for those individuals that are struggling. Again, it is policy driven. We can make those recommended changes and we will definitely consider those as we move forward.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about a consistent full-time mental health worker in Fort Liard. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services a question. I did raise this issue last fall. I’d just like to ask once again, when will the department be hiring a full-time mental health worker in the community of Fort Liard?

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We invest about $6 million annually in community counselling positions across the Northwest Territories and community counselling services.

With respect to the exact position in Fort Liard, I’m not actually aware of the position in Fort Liard or whether or not it’s vacant, so I will have to have a conversation with the Dehcho Health and Social Services Authority to get a status update, which I will share with the Member and I’ll work with the authority to figure out how to get an incumbent into that position.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

I think one of the issues last fall, as well, was a matter of who does the recruitment. I know that we’ve got the Department of Human Resources, but is the health authority doing their own recruitment?

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

The Department of Human Resources provides technical expertise in competitions but the health authority is certainly involved in every competition for any incumbent of their organization, so it’s a combined effort.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

I guess one of the other issues in the small communities and hiring professionals is the high turnover rate. I was wondering if the department has been addressing this, have been looking at this, and finding some alternate strategies in order to keep longer term employees in the small and remote communities.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

During the last fiscal year, the Department of Health and Social Services took over the health human resources unit from the Department of Human Resources. That unit is now in the department and they’re developing a comprehensive human resources plan for the department and working with the authorities, as well, so we’re hoping to come up with some useful and beneficial programs that will help recruit and retain Northerners throughout the Northwest Territories, whether that’s training people or bringing people in, it should include both of them. We are going to be coming forward with that strategy.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Is that something similar to what Human Resources is doing with the Regional Recruitment Strategy? Is that what the Department of Health and Social Services is looking at right now?

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Great Slave

We’re looking for ways to recruit and retain health and allied health professionals throughout the Northwest Territories that may involve a variety of programs. We haven’t really determined all the details at this point. But the Regional Recruitment Program is available to all departments, boards and agencies, so if we have positions that don’t have a statutory requirement, we could certainly engage the Department of Human Resources to utilize the Regional Recruitment Program as it stands now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 211-17(5): Radon Gas Exposure
Oral Questions

March 3rd, 2014

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I talked about radon gas and its prevalence in the NWT. We are all aware that climate change is occurring throughout the world, but mostly so in the NWT. We have seen the temperature rise, affecting the permafrost in some instances, as permafrost is indeed melting. My question is to the Minister of the Housing Corporation.

When was the last round of testing for radon done in the NWT communities by the Housing Corporation? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Minister responsible for Housing, Mr. McLeod.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Because of the fact that most of our inventory is above ground, it’s really not a factor at this point. Plans are being put into place to look at our inventory and we want to develop some plans to do some testing for radon gas in some of the NWT Housing Corporation homes. That way we’ll have a better idea of the risks that are there and whether there is a presence of radon gas or not. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

What is being done to make sure the public is aware of the dangers of radon gas and how to prevent radon exposure and how to test for it?