Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, there is a human right in Canada that talks about the freedom of mobility of people, so we try not to penalize. We do not tell people that, if you are getting income support, you have to stay in Yellowknife. We do allow mobility of people. Then, of course, if they go out of the jurisdiction, then they may have to apply to a different province. Also, if they are only going for a treatment centre, then, of course, we would pay for that. If they leave the territories for a year or whatever the regulation is, then we have to look at that. However, we do support that through our productive choices and also through our student financial assistance. We have fairly lucrative student financial assistance in terms of grants, remissible loans, and then extra money for Indigenous people, as well. We try to help people as best as possible. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The thing is, though, I don't want for them to liquidate all of their SFA to do upgrading. What I am looking through is if income support allows the person to go from their small community to a centre. I'm not talking going down south. I am talking about moving like to Fort Liard from Nahanni Butte, which has a learning centre there so they can access the program, so they get income support, which will also help them provide for food and accommodations there. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The idea of the income support through the productive choices is to provide people the support so that they can prosper as they define "wellness," but, again, income support is for basic needs. If people are looking for education, they may need to combine the two programs together. They may need to combine that with the student financial assistance, if they qualify, and then sometimes people do need to be topped up with that, with income support. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, when we are talking about basic needs, we are talking about accommodations and food. Correct? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Basic needs are accommodations, food, clothing, and incidentals. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, if I sent you client A, who has come to me and said he wants to upgrade, does not want to access his SFA, and he comes to one of the people in your department and says, "This is what I want to do. I want to go to Fort Liard to do the upgrade," is that something that your department would be willing to look at and allow the people to apply for accessing that program? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's really hard to work off of an example, but the key that I heard there is that the person does not want to apply for SFA. Income support is not meant to be an option. It is meant to meet your basic needs when there are no options. The first priority would be to talk to that individual and say, "Do you qualify?" Like, "Why aren't you getting SFA?" The whole goal of income support isn't so that people can just sit home and collect a cheque. That is not the goal. It is, when people have no other resources, that is when we step in. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. In other words, individual A has to go ask for SFA first, and, if he doesn't, then he has to get income support. Correct? Is that what I am understanding from the Minister? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Every individual is different, so, if they are looking at it, what I would recommend is to go in into the service centre and talk to an income support worker, who would actually give them the guidance to provide the best option for accessing whatever choices they make. It is really difficult to work on a hypothetical situation when I don't even know what I am dealing with or it is just individual A and he doesn't want to get SFA but wants to get income support. That, in my opinion, is not good enough. I would be asking that person, as a client service officer, "What are your options for accessing money?" In SFA, I mean that is a requirement. It talks about it. When you fill out an application for student financial assistance, it does ask you, "What other resources do you have?" Income support, as well, when you apply for income support, it is not just: here is your cheque. It is, "What other resources, what other income, do you have?" I think that needs to be looked at. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are going to go round and round in circles here because once she said we could apply for it. I am going to have to go to my constituents and say, "Here is an option. You may have to use your SFA," so I thank the Minister for her time. No further questions.

Thank you. Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am just under the Seniors' Home Heating Subsidy. It is starting to be a concern from elders that there is a change to the program. It used to be a certain amount of litres, the fuel, and it is now changed to the actual, a similar number but a dollar amount. What is the cause of this change? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The funding for the Seniors' Home Heating Subsidy was actually reviewed last year, and we made some changes. We found that there was no consistency across the board, so we looked at the ridings. We tried to do it based on the market baskets in other departments. It did change some of the zones in the communities. Some of the communities actually got more money, and some actually got a little bit less because, in my opinion, it is a lot more expensive to provide home heating fuel in Tsiigehtchic than it is in Hay River. That is my personal opinion. I would have to have proof on that.

Then the other concern that was brought up by people is that they wanted to actually have the payouts because people were supplementing. It was only in litres. A lot of people are using wood heat in the smaller communities, and so it was actually felt that it wasn't equitable in that system. However, in saying that, this was the first year we did that, and I am hearing that there are some concerns, so my commitment was made that, after this winter season is done, which will be right after session, then we are going to be doing an evaluation of the program again to make sure that it is meeting the needs of people the best we can. Thank you, Mr. Chair.