Thank you. Member for Thebacha.
Debates of March 2nd, 2022
This is page numbers 3665 - 3710 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 know.
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Frieda Martselos Thebacha
Thank you, Madam Chair. I also want to -- you to explain -- the Minister to explain how a person goes in to get income assistance and what -- what's the process? Thank you, Madam Chair.
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Saturnino
Thank you, Madam Chair. There is an initial -- there is an application for the income assistance program and through that application, we seek to determine some of the individual's personal circumstances as it relates to -- when we collect their personal information under -- in accordance with ATTIP, but we also are trying to establish what their needs are, what their income, what their housing situation is, their family situation, if they have children. So that's all a part of the initial intake of trying to determine what the individual's circumstances are. And of course through that, that gives us the information to be able to determine their eligibility in accordance with the legislation.
From there, there are certain pieces of information that would be required such as a bank statement. If we're paying rent, we need confirmation of those types of pieces as well. So there is some information that we do need to collect. But that's all a part of the initial intake. And then if they're on the program month to month, then they would reapply however they wouldn't have to provide the same level of information as the first time. Thank you.
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Frieda Martselos Thebacha
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm just wondering now that the social workers aren't involved in the actual -- with the client, which they were before, because most of the social department has gone with child welfare and some of those things, some of the clients are being geared to the mental health workers. I'm just wondering if that's the usual course, because I'm asking that question because a couple of clients that came to me just did not want to go because of that. And they were referred to mental health workers before they would -- before anyone would even look at their case. So I'm just wondering is that normal, or? Thank you, Madam Chair.
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R.J. Simpson Hay River North
Thank you, Madam Chair. So ECE has been administering this program for a quarter century now. So it was -- at one point, the social workers did -- you know, were involved, but that was quite a long time ago and so ECE does have a lot of experience. And I can't speak to any specific issue, you know, whether or not a situation is normal, because it could be a very abnormal situation. But that being said, you know, as an MLA I deal with income assistance issues, and I have for six years. And sometimes what we do is -- sometimes there's a personality conflict and so we will actually, you know, have our clients or have our constituents call the Fort Smith office, and they'll be dealt with through the Fort Smith office and that can alleviate issues. Because sometimes people don't get along, and that can cause some, you know, really problems. So perhaps to -- I don't know if Mr. Saturnino has anything he'd like to add to this but I can hand it to him. Thank you, Madam Chair.
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Saturnino
Thank you, Madam Chair. The delivery of income assistance can be complex, as complex as the circumstances of the individual. And so one of the things that our staff aim to do is to assist the client in any way possible and if that means that they need to do a referral to another service provider who is able to better assist them with their needs, we may do that. However as far as determining eligibility, it is predominantly based on the client's needs and their income, and it is a financial calculation. But if it was required, we would refer to other services in order to support that client in whatever that might be, whether that's with the Department of Health and Social Services, ICM through the Department of Justice, or any other service provider, perhaps through an NGL. Thank you.
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Frieda Martselos Thebacha
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm not criticizing any of the process in ECE. I'm just wondering why a social worker would refer a couple of clients to the mental health when these -- there's no mental health issues here. And it has nothing to do with really once they get into the income support program over at ECE, because I have -- I've never had problems with the Department of ECE ever with any of my clients, and they -- I -- everybody's very professional there. But I was just wondering if that was part of the process because I wasn't sure. Thank you, Madam Chair.
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R.J. Simpson Hay River North
Sure. So I'll say it's not part of the regular process. That being said, you know, I personally have been, you know -- and the department is very supportive of a -- I've been pushing an integrated service delivery approach and of course you know, all of the social -- all of the departments have signed on to that. And so it could be a situation where perhaps the -- you know, the client service officer thought that that would be appropriate, an appropriate way to, you know, give someone access to all of the services or to alternate services.
So if the Member wants to, you know, send some specifics about this with some names, we can actually look into it and go from there. But no, it's not part of the normal process. Thank you.
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Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi
Okay, thank you. You said that 1,128 students from Northwest Territories. How many of those are Indigenous? You did mention North Slave, South Slave but you didn't say, like, how many of those. I would like to know because Tlicho is part of North Slave, and that's -- Yellowknife is North Slave. We're not part of Yellowknife. Thank you.
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R.J. Simpson Hay River North
Thank you. And when the deputy minister read that out, I knew that this question was coming. So we can see if we have that information about the number of Indigenous versus non-Indigenous students on hand. But I think we might have to provide something to committee later in terms of the breakdown by community as opposed to just regions, so I'd like to hand it to the deputy minister. Thank you.
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Macdonald
Thank you, Madam Chair. And we do have that information on hand. So for student financial assistance, the breakdown is 42 percent of recipients are Indigenous with 58 percent being non-Indigenous. Thank you, Madam Chair.
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Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi
Thank you. It's good to know that number even though -- yeah. And so this would be a student loans. Do the students receive the same amount of money for funding? Because I know Indigenous students, they -- you know, they are eligible for basic and supplementary. Do they receive the same amount of funding?
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