Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions today for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment with regard to Section 3.3 of the Rent Supplement Program, accommodations, rent or mortgage. In one of the sections, it explains that a client and his or her dependents can receive assistance for accommodation. Accommodation includes rent, mortgage, tax or fire insurance.

I’d like to ask the Minister, in some cases and possibly when a person is in foreclosure or not able to pay up their bills for the month because either something happened that they got less income coming in, would they be able...

Yes, Mr. Speaker. Sorry, I was a little confused there with my first question. With the government response that was tabled in this House in 2011, there were some immediate actions that could have been taken. Has the report itself been updated since 2011? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the budget address the Minister of Finance states that the most effective way we can grow our revenues is to grow our economy and our population. He also states that over the next five years he wants to grow the NWT population by 2,000 people.

I also agree that our economy does need to grow and develop, but I also have a suggestion here that maybe over the next five years we invest that into the people of the Northwest Territories by investing in their education and training in the small communities and the regions where a lot of the economic things are happening...

There’s another section in this Section 3.3, and it deals with clients with dependents are eligible for up to, or they’re just eligible for rent or mortgage or whatever it’s going to be called, but I just want to know if there is a definition for dependents, whether it’s a person’s parent, a person’s grandparent, a child, it could be an uncle or an aunt that needs some assistance because they might be elderly as well. Can I get an understanding of dependents and whether or not when we’re applying the clients, that our couples are classified as just one client?

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that the Speaker be authorized to set such sitting days and hours as the Speaker, after consultation, deems fit to assist with the business before the House.

Mr. Speaker, I was speaking on behalf of all elders. We do have a growing population of seniors in the Northwest Territories and we don’t always have the housing units to allow them to get into housing, they have to go into the market rent areas.

I would like to ask the Minister, what is he going to do to change his policy, especially when we have our seniors who are in wheelchairs, seniors that use canes or walkers, or seniors that have very limited mobility, to address the issue that when we get some of our seniors, or whomever it may be, the proper housing units that they need? How is he...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I will be asking questions for those that can’t speak up themselves and those that need representation. Today I have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

In a lot of our communities we have a long waiting list to get into housing. As a result, a lot of our residents will go through the Rental Subsidy Program and will go into market rental units. However, with the high cost of living in some communities, such as Inuvik, I would like to ask the Minister, what process and practice does the department do when they are looking for a place for...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Welcome to the Minister and his staff to the House here. This is kind of our third kick at the can with the operations budget and it’s been an educational one, I think, for both the department as well as for Members of the House in terms of how we look at doing things differently or looking at things more efficiently and looking at where we can improve within the department itself.

With that said, I know this is the biggest budget in the government, but it is also one of the departments that has some of the more unique challenges that we don’t see in other departments. It...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just going back to my other question about the policy, will the Minister take a look at his policy with this and make it specific, possibly working with the Minister responsible for Seniors and see how we can change that policy to better address the need? As I mentioned, we’re getting a higher seniors population in the Northwest Territories and the lack of long-term care facilities, some of these seniors do still live a pretty independent lifestyle and we want to promote that independence in our communities as well.

So, will the Minister look at reviewing his policy...

Mr. Speaker, I am going along these questions because I have an elderly couple in the community of Inuvik who are having a hard time to find a place to stay and when they approached the Minister in question, the elderly couple was asked to look for a different apartment when they were initially approved.

So, how does this Minister and the department approve a couple that meet the disability accessibility and then take that away and look for another unit that is cheaper and not meeting the needs of the couple? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.