Thank you for the commitment from the Minister. The Minister acknowledged in the House on February 8th, 2024, the intended goal of productive choices is not being met. Can the Minister describe how the department tracks clients' productive choices? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, the department used to track productive choices when it had it as a requirement under the program, but it is not a requirement under the program anymore. If the Member had an interest in seeing the historical data on productive choices, I could definitely work with the Member to pull some of that information. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister commit to reporting on the outcomes of productive choices that clients take, how many clients on the productive choices move forward to school or finding work? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, while the department no longer requires clients of income assistance to partake in productive choices, I do understand the goals of the Member, and I have really appreciated all the Member's statements that he has done on income assistance. It has provided me with the opportunity to learn about what his goals are and what the realities are in the communities that he represents.

With that being said, I want to confirm for the Member that as part of the new income assistance program that there is a performance measurement plan that is intended within that review and that the department intends to kind of keep an eye on what is happening within its community of clients and even within the communities that those clients live in. And so there is an intent to kind of keep an eye on this and to be able to report back.

In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, there are numerous deliverables within the business plan, within Education, Culture and Employment's plan that also speak to the number of income assistance clients who are employed and increasing that number. And so I really look forward to being able to work on that with the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister describe the wraparound supports provided to clients on income assistance with respect to productive choices? How is the department helping people make productive choices that will actually improve their independence and self-reliance? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've had the opportunity to speak with multiple residents who, at some point in their lives, have been on income assistance. And one of the things that they have expressed to me is frustration about how difficult it was to find pathways off income assistance once they were on it. And so one thing that's very important to me -- and I know that the Member shares this interest as well -- is creating those pathways for people to be able to access employment, access entrepreneurship, and access education programs as well. And that's one of the reasons I'm so excited for the changes to income assistance is because it frees up more time for the client navigators to be able to work with 60 percent of the clientele who fall between the ages of 19 and 59 and to be able to create those pathways, work with them to find out what are their goals, and let's get you working towards them in a supportive way. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is for the ECE Minister. Does the Minister track the outcomes of income assistance clients other time? Thank you.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I assume I would need to know more information about what the Member is looking for as far as outcomes are concerned. But at this point, what I could point to for sure are the desire to increase deliverables from income assistance clients within the business plans, which speak to the number of income assistance clients, for example, that are employed and changes to the lives of income assistance clients like that and being able to support them through those pathways.

Okay, thank you. Thank you, I was looking for a success story.

So, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister provide a percentage of how many people on income assistance, or how many people on income assistance leave the program because they are employed or no longer need assistance? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, while I don't have that specific data at my fingertips right now, it's definitely, you know, something that I would like to work with the Member on in the life of this Assembly, is to be able to have a number of great success stories, even if it is people who are using the new income assistance program in order to generate earned income that they can hang on to and be able to work towards some additional self-reliance and be able to enter into the workforce as well. So I think this is a really exciting time as far as income assistance and being able to give people the support they need economically while also being able to make sure that there are pathways for people to be employed, to start a business if they want to, or to enter into education or training program as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Colleagues, the interpreters have asked us to slow down, so please remember that.

Member from Monfwi.

Thank you. What is the length of time the average person is an income support client? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it is -- you know, there are some people who are on income assistance when they turn 19. And one of the changes that I think is really important that's been made to the program as well is it used to be that if there was an adult living in a home with a parent who was on income assistance, that that dependent child who was living at home would have to go out and go on income assistance right away. And one of the changes that has been made to the program is that that person can remain a dependent and not have to go on income assistance right away, not to have to declare their income to income assistance until after the age of 22 so that they're able to go out to work, to start a job, and to be able to still remain in the home. And I think that's really important because I think as parents, we all want the opportunity to empower our youth to be able to generate a bit of a nest egg before they leave the nest. And so I think this is a really important change to the program as well. Thank you.

thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the Minister track demographics of clients; what do we know about the types of clients on income assistance?

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are demographics that are tracked. We know where people live. We know the ages of clients. We know if it is -- you know, what their gender identity is. And so I think that depending on what the Member is looking for, I can either provide more information or can align some of the demographics with whatever it is that the Member is looking for, as long as we are ensuring that we are still only collecting data that we actually need for the program, for the government, and respecting people's privacy. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd say one of the significant changes that I've had the opportunity to speak to quite a bit today is freeing up quite a bit of time of client navigators by ensuring that we are reducing administrative burdens to a significant number of income assistance clients. That leaves about 60 percent of income assistance clients who are still reporting month to month. And it allows the client navigators to form more in-depth relationships with those clients. So it means that all of a sudden they are able to make stronger connections within the communities that these clients live in and that they want to work in. It means that we are connecting clients to more opportunities within communities. We have heard from multiple Members in this House about some of the ways that traditionally income assistance clients through sometimes productive choices have had the opportunity to add to community, and there are tremendous amount of people there, especially in the North, who want to be able to build strong communities. And so how can we connect them to those opportunities?

In addition to that, it's connecting people to, like I said, education, and with my ITI hat on, there's a tremendous amount of programs and people over there who are eager to support people with their entrepreneurial goals. And that is a goal of mine, is to see a lot more entrepreneurs in the territory as well. Thank you.