Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd say the MLA for Monfwi said it best in her statement today when she said that income assistance is really supposed to be a temporary solution. And so income assistance is there as a month to month solution for northern NWT residents who are having economic shortfalls, who are -- their needs outweigh their income on a month to month basis. And so, really, the program is there to be able to catch people. And with the changes that are happening to income assistance that we've been talking about here today, what we're really intending to see is more connections to other programs that help people so that they are not seeing those income shortfalls. There are changes as well to -- in order to support that, there are also changes to the amount of earned income that somebody can keep on a monthly basis. So with the new program, for example, somebody will be able -- an adult will be able to keep $500 of their earned income and in addition to that, 25 percent above that of what they earn. So, for example, if somebody makes a thousand dollars a month through employment, they will keep the $500, and then 25 percent of that second bit of the $500, so they would be able to keep $625 of their earned income. And so this is one of those ways that you're creating pathways to employment, where you're not having people fearful that their income assistance is going to be clawed back and it's creating some grace in those pathways. Thank you.
Caitlin Cleveland on Question 229-20(1): Implementation of Guaranteed Basic Income
In the Legislative Assembly on June 4th, 2024. See this statement in context.
Question 229-20(1): Implementation of Guaranteed Basic Income
Oral Questions
June 4th, 2024
Page 681
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