Thank you, Minister. Mr. Saturnino.

Thank you. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think it makes sense to break out those categories, especially just in that reporting for people who are seniors and disabilities is different. I note we already payroll them, so that makes sense. I have some concerns about the way Income Assistance works with other programs. Do we have figures of how many of our Income Assistance clients are in public housing? I know that there has been some work to make those systems work better. I still don't believe there is cohesion when someone gets an Income Assistance cheque and then it goes to public housing, or someone misses their Income Assistance appointment and gets cut off, and it affects public housing. I still don't get the sense that those systems are working seamlessly. Can the Minister speak to, A, if we know how many Income Assistance clients are in public housing, and B, any work being done to make sure that those two different departments are talking to each other? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you. We could probably figure that out. I'm not sure how easy that would be, but after this, I'll hand it to Mr. Saturnino. Part of the review is to address issues just like that. The Member points out we really have two social housing programs in the territory. Income Assistance participates in one, and housing is the other. There must be a better way, and there must be improvements that can be made. We are looking at that. Perhaps Mr. Saturnino has more information. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Saturnino.

Thank you, Mr. Saturnino. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Is there a maximum to what you can receive on Income Assistance? The housing pay scale is very clear to understand. There's a minimum and a maximum, and it applies to income. Income Assistance, being a needs-based program, is much more complex, but I'm wondering if there is essentially a maximum built into the Income Assistance program? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you. The amounts available to Income Assistance clients are laid out in the regulations. There are schedules at the back that list what amounts individuals can receive for what categories, and that varies based on community, number of dependents, and so on. There are some provisions embedded in the regulations themselves. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The maximum would be if I took all the schedules and added them all up, and the maximum would actually not really be realistic in the schedules because I think it goes up to 12 children or something like that. Perhaps that is possible in the NWT and true.

My concern, and I've expressed this to the Minister before, is that I think there are cases where, if you are on the lowest end of the housing pay scale, you pay something like $80 a month in rent. Then if you have multiple children and you're also getting daycare subsidized, you're in this position where you just really shouldn't move. You shouldn't adjust anything because if you lose public housing, all of a sudden, you're going to try to pay market rent, and you don't want to lose public housing. If you start working too much, then that's going to affect your housing pay scale. I'm still not convinced that the systems are working together.

As part of the Income Assistance review, I think the Minister already said this, but will we be looking at ways to make sure that we don't get people stuck in a so-called welfare trap or that we don't get people stuck in these situations where working or changing their lifestyle all of a sudden becomes a huge deterrent? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That's the plan. The Income Assistance program, as it is, was created years ago. There have been changes to it. There have been things that have been exempted over the last number of years, and that has actually added to the costs. There is still the issue that the Member is talking about. It's easier for people, sometimes, it makes more sense for them to stay on Income Assistance than to get a job or go get training. It could be the amount. It could also be circumstances in the community. The whole reason we are doing the review is to address those issues. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Madam Chair. My subject is the Senior Home Heating Subsidy. First of all, I just want to thank the department for looking after the heating supply for our seniors in my community and in the NWT. It's very much appreciated. I had a wood supplier in my community. I didn't get all of the information out of him, but he was citing that he may get out of the business because one of the problems that he was citing is that it was taking too long to get paid. These guys are just small businesses. Especially if you are in the wood business, it's very, very tough. I am just wondering if you know what is the length it takes before they get paid and whether we can shorten it to maybe a day or so or if the cheque can be cut right in the office, same as for our IA clients? Mahsi.

Thank you, Member. Minister of ECE.

Thank you. It's supposed to be a pretty quick turnaround. It's paid on invoice, and when there are issues like the Member is raising, if those are raised with the department, then we do our best to fix them immediately. I can ask Mr. Saturnino if he has further information. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Mr. Saturnino.

Thank you, Mr. Saturnino. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi for that. It's interesting. If it's the supplier that is going through the SAM system, that is 20 days, no short-cuts, but the amount of time, still it's not guaranteed. When I worked with Infrastructure, I know that there was an early-release payment program where the contractor was docked 2 percent for that. When we first worked with it, it was a turnaround of two to three days max, but when SAM got introduced, contractors were waiting three weeks later for an early-release payment. I am saying I am wondering if you could look at it to help these small wood suppliers. The fuel suppliers, they are okay because they are large outfits, but the wood cutters, we are getting different contractors every now and then. If we could shorten it specifically for this industry, it's a unique industry. I am just wondering if we could look at it with a different lens, as somebody puts it. Mahsi.