Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's no accident that we haven't had a mid-term review in this Assembly since the 12th Assembly, since before division. It has been really a lot of work to come up with a set of principles and a process to conduct this mid-term review. I want to emphasize that, with Mr. Sebert's help, we canvassed thoroughly the different options and tools that we could use to produce a mid-term review that was fair and equitable, and I have confidence in the report that we produced, that we were able to hit that mark.

That doesn't mean to say that, once the review takes...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, on Wednesday, October 26, 2016, I will move the following motion.

Now therefore, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, that the Department of Education, Culture, and Employment produce a plan to implement junior kindergarten in 20172018, along with a fully costed budget for presentation to the Standing Committee on Social Development;

and further, that the department implement all the recommendations of the junior kindergarten review tabled in February;

and furthermore, that, in developing an implementation plan...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to table these e-mails and I will pursue my concerns in greater detail at another time. But my last question in this string is to ask the Minister what his department has done proactively to explain the changes to people who receive income assistance about their allowances. Not about the child benefit, the Canada child benefit, but about the change in the income assistance allowances.

To say again, this is an e-mail exchange where the Minister has signed the e-mails and the resident has signed the e-mails, and he expresses his concern about the reduction of food and clothing allowances within the Income Assistance Regulations. Could the Minister please clarify that, in fact, he has heard concerns about the changes that have been made?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's my pleasure to introduce Jacq Brasseur, she's the driving force behind the new Rainbow Youth Centre in Yellowknife.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wonder if the Minister could just review for us the requirement for a midlife retrofit of the school?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Those are all my questions.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, is this a carryover from a prior year, the purchase of the coroner's van? Thank you.

Again, thank you to the Minister for that. The fact is, Mr. Speaker, that 8 per cent is not making a difference to the core housing need in the territory, and the availability of housing especially here in Yellowknife where the waiting list is about 180, across the whole NWT about 600. So I would like to hear from the Minister whether there is a plan to increase the amount of spending on social housing.

Masi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during the sitting in June, Members on this side of the House moved a housing motion in which we requested that the Minister take action on the level of core need, which is at 20 per cent for the NWT, including investing, coming up with a fully costed comprehensive plan and so on. We received her response last week and it doesn't address the questions we asked. So my first question is: how is the NWT Housing Corporation going to reduce core housing need? Thank you.