Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Debates of Feb. 10th, 2021
This is page numbers 1903 - 1944 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd 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 work.
Topics
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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R.J. Simpson Hay River North
Thank you. I believe the fuel suppliers are paid up front, so when someone is approved, the fuel supplier gets the total amount. There is one payment and there are no delays, obviously, for subsequent payments. I am happy to have this discussion with the department. I will leave it at that. I will have that discussion with the department because this is not the first time I have heard this issue. Thank you.
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Ronald Bonnetrouge Deh Cho
Mahsi. I am glad that I reminded you to consider it, so no further questions on that one. Mahsi.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Steve Norn Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh
Marsi cho, Madam Chair. I am just looking at the activity description, and I just thought about my Member's statement earlier today, traditional economy. A long time before this system was put in place, if you did not work outside and work hard, you did not eat that night, but our times are different now. I still remember stories of some of the elders telling me what it was like before, and now that we have these systems in place, they are here. That is what we have to work with. Just a little more technical, I looked at one of the line items here, for Income Assistance and just for the actuals, revised numbers. Last year, we all know that CERB was implemented. I am just wanting to see if you have noticed any changes in terms of the demand for your department since CERB was implemented? Marsi cho. That is for the Minister. My apologies, Madam Chair.
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R.J. Simpson Hay River North
Thank you. It's hard to compare this last year to previous years, considering that we went through a shutdown during a global pandemic, but there was an increase. I can ask Mr. Saturnino to discuss some of the changes that we saw in terms of increases and subsequent decreases in numbers. Thank you.
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Saturnino
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. Typically, what we have been seeing over the last few years is around a 7 percent increase in expenditures in Income Assistance, which would be reflective of what you are seeing as far as increases in the budget for the year. Over the last year, with the exemption of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, we exempted a lot of that, or we exempted that income as well as a number of other income sources. As a result, our expenditures definitely increased, so there was a significant increase, I believe to around 17 percent for the one year. That was between April and November. Since November, we have started to count the Canada Recovery Benefit, and we are starting decreased expenditures as a result of that. It is balancing itself out, but there are definitely increased expenditures. We are still completing financial reviews on files because we did payroll clients for seven months, so those financial reviews will tell the true story of how much CERB money was counted or was collected by clients and exempted, as well. Thank you.
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Steve Norn Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh
Marsi cho, Madam Chair. Yes, I am just trying to understand a little better now. I am hearing that there is going to be a review, so do we have some timelines on when we are going to get some firm numbers back? Thank you, Madam Chair.
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R.J. Simpson Hay River North
Thank you. I will pass it to Mr. Saturnino for that, but yes, I did not want to let this opportunity to learn pass. I said we need to find out exactly what happened and how this extra income affected people and all of that. I have asked the department to do that work. They have graciously said, "Of course," so Mr. Saturnino might have some more information. Thank you.
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Saturnino
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Minister. We are currently working with clients. Since the changes were made in November, we did want to provide them with a good amount of time to be able to provide that information, and so the deadline that we had given to clients was January 15th, so we are just past that. Of course, financial reviews would follow, and in instances where clients have not provided the information, of course, we are working with those clients to get the information we need to conduct the reviews. Thank you.
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Steve Norn Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh
Thank you. That will be a good high-level question kind of to start off with. I had something a little more detailed for my riding. Is it too far to go to page 47 for the active positions? Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair. In my riding, in Deninu Kue, about two-and-a-half years ago, there was an income support worker who was there. I am not sure if they were part-time or full-time off the top of my head, but I know that that position was never filled. Is that still on the books, or is, at some point, this position going to be actively recruited? Marsi cho.
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Saturnino
Thank you, Madam Chair. There is a .5 PY position in Fort Resolution, and the position is currently staffed, working out of the Deninu Kue office. Thank you.
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February 10th, 2021
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Steve Norn Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh
Okay. No. Thank you for that, so that is a half-time position. It was reported to me. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe if I could just get this clarified. About two-and-a-half years ago, there was a full-time position there, as well. If we could maybe get back to me that information if that is the case? Because there is, I think, a service gap there because I do get quite a bit of calls for my community members in Deninu Kue. I have to call to Hay River quite a bit to get service. If this continues, I would like to see if we could get the additional support for that half-time position. Marsi cho.
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