Yes, please, Madam Chair.

Does the committee agree?

Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the chamber.

Thank you, Sergeant-at-Arms. Would the Minister please introduce her witnesses.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, to my left, I have James Fulford who is the deputy minister of education, culture and employment. And on my left, I have the assistant deputy minister of labour and income support who is Nicole Beauchamp.

Committee, we will resume where we left off. The next key activity is income security beginning on page 49 with information items on page 52. Are there any questions? Mr. Morse.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Sorry, I wave off my wave.

Okay. Member for the Sahtu.

Thank you, Madam Chair. My question to the Minister is on the seniors' home heating subsidy. I'm, first of all, glad to see an increase. And the qualifications for this program is really concerning to a lot of recipients; I'm like many other MLAs from the region that hear these concerns. And it's always the fact of the threshold qualification. The recipients are exceeding the threshold qualification by doing something they've always have done in their past by earning extra money here and there as a pensioner and selling their crafts and/or doing part-time work only to find out that they don't qualify. Is there any willingness or has there been any discussion on increasing that threshold within the department so that, number one, we can encourage our elders or support our elders to keep busy by earning other income and at the same time keep physically fit as they've done all their life? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for the Sahtu. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. And thank you to the Member for highlighting this program. It's certainly the program that I hear the most about, both on the floor and also certainly from constituents. It's a program that's meant to -- for low to mid income seniors to help them address the cost of their fuel. And the policy is to help them up to 80 percent, and then to support them on the budgeting side for the additional 20 percent. And people who have needs beyond that are encouraged, of course, to -- if they meet the criteria, to apply for income support for seniors and persons with disabilities if they require more than that, that 80 percent threshold there. I appreciate what the Member is saying in regards to reviewing the thresholds for income for seniors, and so that is work that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment is currently undertaking. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for the Sahtu.

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. I had to borrow your earpiece there; I think somebody's trying to stop me from setting some demands.

I'm glad to hear that the Minister is open to review that. Like any other efficient policy, it's only good as its periodic or annual reviews. So I shall take that home that -- and tell some of the recipients to the program that, yes, the Minister is going to be reviewing that. We can understandably say that these voices from the recipients to the program are really being addressed on their high costs of living in most of these little communities, and you can understand the remoteness of the Sahtu which really escalates the cost of living. So thank you for that reply. Mahsi.

Thank you. I don't hear a question in there. Would you like to respond to that, Minister?

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. No, I appreciate the Member's consistent advocacy for the people that he serves. Mahsi.

Thank you. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Can the Minister explain what this --

-- sorry there. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Looking at your actuals from 2023 up to the main estimates of 2025-2026, every year there's been an increase. Can you give me some information on that as to where it's going to, income support rather than, you know, what they call disabled or people that really need it; where's this money going? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, the increases in programming, the bulk of it comes from income assistance, and that is from the review that was done in the previous Assembly on income assistance that separated seniors and persons with disabilities into their own income assistance. And so there was additional funding put in to that and put into income assistance. There was also adjustments made on the market basket measure to ensure that the dollars that Northerners were getting were reflective of the actual costs, for example, of food in the Northwest Territories.

There's also an increase that is seen here under the seniors' home heating subsidy. And so what the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has traditionally done where you see here with the actuals that are different than the main estimates under the seniors' home heating subsidy is because the policy states that, you know, we strive to support elders across the territory up to 80 percent of their fuel costs should they meet the criteria of this program, because of the rising cost of fuel we were constantly having to fund from within and find those dollars in order to ensure that we were supporting seniors. And what we did this year -- and so you'll see in the main estimates for this year there's actually an increase, and that was based on forced growth. We were successful in getting forced growth funding for the seniors' home heating subsidy in reflecting how important that program is for northern seniors and elders. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

So it's referring to the income assistance portion of this document here. From 2023-2024, it was $36 million, and 2025-2026, it's $44 million; that's a substantial increase. And, you know, it's disturbing. I've been talking about this since day one when I've gotten this -- started sessions, and the increase is quite big. And, you know, are there, in the future, is there a look at maybe cutting some of these costs or, you know, maybe consulting with the communities on where we can make measures work for the communities. Especially the recipients, I don't think this is helping them. It's helping them with money but, you know, in the long run you've got to give them some hope. And, you know, is there some way we can look at cutting these costs? Maybe consulting with the communities? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.