Bob McLeod

We’ve already undertaken at least six months of consultations and survey work. We can get a copy of any existing anti-poverty acts and provide it to the Member and we can use it for our benefit as well.

Since the coalition of 14 groups presented a number of documents to the previous Premier in the 16th Assembly, which was in December 2009, there has been considerable work undertaken in this area. It is our expectation that we will have this by the middle of 2012.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Taking action to improve the well-being of Northerners and reduce poverty in the Northwest Territories is a continuing priority for the Government of the Northwest Territories, although it is not something this government can do alone.

Earlier this year an interdepartmental team consulted residents about the root causes of poverty. Residents told us that the root causes of poverty included lack of wellness, lack of education and skills, housing challenges, lack of employment, high cost of living, and programs that create dependency instead of encouraging independence. In...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to recognize Mr. Scott Messenger from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology department of marketing and communications. Welcome, Scott.

I think we’re following normal procedure in developing an Anti-Poverty Strategy. We will be developing a draft Anti-Poverty Strategy and will be coming forward to committee. Also, as I indicated earlier, we are meeting with the Anti-Poverty Coalition on January 19th. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The advisory committee that we’re referring to is made up of four people and it advised us in the early stages. The discussion paper that has been drafted looked at what is currently being done, what some of the findings are with regard to the discussion that we held with Northerners, and ways to improve the well-being and self-reliance of Northwest Territories residents and gaps and areas for improvement, amongst other things. We will review the progress on the draft strategy, and at some point in the very near future we’ll be going to standing committee to provide an...

I should clarify, it appears the honourable Member misunderstood me when I said the report that I was referring to was based on What We Heard. We subsequently have developed a broad discussion paper. So there are two separate papers. Secondly, we are looking at an NWT-wide strategy and the advisory group on poverty that has been advising us has people from across the Territories that are advising us.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The report that was prepared was called “What We Heard” from Northerners About Poverty and this report was provided to Standing Committee on Social Programs in August 2011.

We will be meeting with the Anti-Poverty Coalition, I believe it’s called, on January 19th. We are working on a draft strategy that will build on the priorities of the 17th Assembly. It’s my expectation that we would have something by the middle of 2012. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The facts as quoted by my colleague, in fact, are true. I mean, we see quoted in national media that Yellowknife has the highest per capita income in Canada, but they never report on the high cost of living.

There was considerable work done in the 15th Assembly where we looked at how much this government was spending on subsidies to assist people living in the Northwest Territories, and the number that we came to was something in the neighbourhood of $158 million. There was also work undertaken by ECE and Health and Social Services to see what salary range we would have...