Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with respect to the income disruption support payment, that was the first one that was provided and that was really meant to be an opportunity, really, just to acknowledge the fact that individuals who had been evacuated at that time may be in situations where they didn't have anything to provide some of their day-to-day costs and to sort of mitigate some of those day-to-day costs. $750 was -- we were looking at -- we certainly did do a jurisdictional scan of what was going offered elsewhere. It was very clear at that time that very few jurisdictions, indeed I think perhaps at that time initially only one, were providing any kind of direct payments to residents. As the summer wore on and other jurisdictions faced similar challenges of evacuations, there was at least one jurisdiction, if I'm not mistaken, that did ultimately provide a payment, and we tried to ensure that ours was not too far off of what was being offered, noting that, of course, there were some differences in how they were being allotted and who was eligible. And at that time, the evacuation travel support payment was introduced to try to further offset some of the costs that were being incurred for individuals knowing that accommodations and some fuel and food were available for those who were registered through the other evacuation programs that were available. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let's use some easy numbers. The CERB payment was about $2,000 a month. That's about $500 a week. So the fire was about three weeks, and so if we use their $750 mark, that's 250 a week. So there's quite a bit of a disparity. There's a standard, a considerable one. But CERB was during COVID and people stayed home, so they didn't have to worry about driving out. That said, how can we justify and explain that $750 was an impact payment worthy of the expense that many people paid considering they pulled -- the government ordered people out of the Northwest Territories. It wasn't like an encouragement saying hey, got nothing to do, go to Edmonton and Calgary. So how do we justify that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, people were asked to evacuate in the face of wildfires that were threatening communities. So as far as being ordered to leave, it was not done lightly. It was done in the interests of safety to protect residents but also to protect first responders, to protect firefighters, to protect infrastructure. So just to draw a distinct line, there this is not the same as the situation under CERB. We are also not the federal government and don't have the deep pockets of the federal government and we're doing our best to try to make our programs such that they could be affordable for the GNWT, that if possible, we could still see reimbursement by the federal government. In the case of both of the support payments, it is unlikely that they're going to be supported back by the federal government's disaster assistance programs, and with respect -- so I gather that this is now with respect to the travel subsidy. Mr. Speaker, so the travel subsidy is really -- was meant to be for those folks who didn't have access to the flight evacuation option or who had -- didn't have access to, you know -- again, there was accommodations being offered, food being offered, and some fuel costs being offered. So it was really just meant to be if there were some additional costs being incurred that we weren't aware of or hadn't accounted for. That's what that was supposed to be. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Finance. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister be willing to either give a ministerial statement or table some documents that demonstrate how many people actually applied and received this program, be it the numbers of people applied and the amount paid out? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, certainly I can provide those numbers. Thank you.

Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is for ECE Minister. Mr. Speaker, residents tell me in the -- especially in the small communities -- I went to Wekweeti about two weeks ago. So it's not just them, but there are others, elders, that have been saying this too, that residents -- the home heating subsidy is not enough support for many of them in the small communities. So I just wanted to ask the Minister, can the Minister commit to reevaluate the monthly home heating subsidy for elders to assess whether the subsidies is meeting their needs?

ECE.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the questions -- for the answer. Okay, well, then I've been hearing from a lot of residents out there, especially the elders. If there was an increase, I don't think they are -- I don't know when. Can the Minister tell us when this is going to take effect? When's this change is going to take place? Like, is it the next fiscal year, or did it already happen? Because the residents in small communities are saying the fuel subsidies that they are receiving right now is not enough. It's not enough. It's not going a long ways. It's -- some of them said the fuel that we get right now today will last me a week.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The fuel subsidy increase that I was referencing has already been implemented; however, the increase to the income assistance payments and the changes to the income assistance payments that the Member for Great Slave was asking about earlier are forthcoming and will also help with this. And those changes are expected to come this coming summer and so residents will see -- who are on income assistance as well will see increases to their bank accounts as well, and that will help as well with monthly costs as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister adjust the income threshold for seniors' fuel subsidy program based on higher costs of living for elders in small or remote communities?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, how the thresholds are currently set up, they're divided into three separate zones, and these zones take into account the size of the communities and where the communities are located within the Northwest Territories. So, for example, zone 1, which is where Behchoko is located, has an income threshold of $56,000 versus a community like Gameti, which is zone 2, which has a threshold of $64,000, and zone 3, which, for example, has communities like Wekweeti, has a threshold of $73,000. But I really welcome the conversations with the Member and learning more about how these subsidies and also access to income support are impacting her residents in her communities. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of ECE. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.

I don't have any more questions, but from -- but I will sit and meet with the Minister on the fuel subsidy program for elders.

Oral questions. Written questions. Return to written questions. Replies to the Commissioner's address. Petitions. Tabling of documents. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly Standing Committee Terms of Reference. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Boot Lake. Tabling of documents. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table an open letter dated September 2023 from the Yellowknife Women's Society board of directors following the Yellowknife evacuation experience. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Tabling of documents. Colleagues, I wish to table the following five documents: The report of Integrity Commissioner on the Investigation into a complaint made by Nancy Vail that then-MLA Katrina Nokleby breached the Members' Code of Conduct; the Report of the Integrity Commissioner of the Investigation into a Complaint made by Arnold Manuel alleging that then-MLA and Minister Paulie Chinna breached the Members' Code of Conduct; Pursuant to section 265 of the Election and Plebiscite Act, the Elections NWT Territorial General Election 2023 Official Results; pursuant to section 23 of the Official Languages Act, the Northwest Territories Language Commissioner's Annual Report 2022-2023; and, Pursuant to Section 43 of the Ombud Act, the Northwest Territories ombud Special Report on Recommendations for Amendments to the Ombud Act. Minister of Finance.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: 2022-2023 Public Accounts, sections I, II, III, and IV. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of finance. Tabling of documents. Notices of motion. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Thursday, February 8, 2024, I will move the following motion:

Now therefore I move, seconded by the Member for Great Slave, that Rule 9.2(3) be amended to read: The Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight shall report and recommend, with all convenient speed, Members to comprise the following Standing Committees of the Assembly:

1. On Economic Development and Environment;
2. On Government Operations;
3. On Procedure and Privileges;
4. On public accounts;
5. On Social Development; and
6. On any other Standing and Special Committees as directed by the Assembly.

And further, that Appendix C of the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, Committee Terms of Reference, be replaced by Tabled Document 5-20(1).

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will seek unanimous consent to deal with this motion today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.