Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me today the secretary to the Financial Management Board, Mr. Lew Voytilla.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a result of the order from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and their findings, this government has been directed as to how it shall resolve the complaint. That direction is prescriptive and we have to follow what is set out in that approach as it as agreed to by the three parties -- the Public Services Alliance of Canada, this government and the tribunal -- so there is no legal way for this government to even look at going around that and we have not.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think the Member has made it clear that there's an interest from other communities to be able to have flights originate in them and I have no doubt that the Minister of Transportation will pass that on to his federal counterpart when he has the occasion to meet with him.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I could certainly commit to the Member that I would communicate to the appropriate federal Minister our concern about the impact that this change might have on the ability of students to be successful and ask that they take a look at their policy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In terms of trying to contact people, since February through August of this year there was one person whose primary function in the office was to try and locate eligible employees who had not yet been located, and of approximately 900 people for whom contact had not been established, they were successful in reaching 135.

Mr. Speaker, the plans are to run some more advertisements in the very near future to remind people that the deadline for applying is December 31st. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’m sure that the Minister was listening to Member's advice and will make sure that the federal Minister is advised to that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what we do already is we offer indigenous aboriginal people in the Northwest Territories the choice of receiving their living allowance either through a remissible loan or a grant. We have, for a number of years, advised people that there is some question whether or not CCRA will at some point start to tax the grants. We have known for some time that they are looking at this. The option is there if a student takes a remissible loan, for instance, they can avoid paying the taxes in any case, no matter what CCRA decides.

That means that will make sure that...

Thank you, Madam Chair. At this point, I don’t know anything about that, so perhaps we could ask the Minister of Transportation if he could respond.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe that we have a competitive compensation program for our employees in the Northwest Territories and I think that part of the problem is that perhaps people have been coming here without an understanding of what the costs are to live in some of our communities. I believe the salary compensates people fairly for the cost of living, as does our northern living allowance. The programs such as the one offered by the Housing Corporation for market rental housing is certainly making sure that housing is available at a reasonable rent in communities. I’m...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Not that I’m aware of, but perhaps we could ask the Minister of Transportation if he could respond to the question.