Julie Green

I have no further questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it's clear that Sissons School along with many others in the NWT needs significant investment from this government. What efforts is the Minister making to grow the pot of money available for our school retrofits? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Like my colleague, I want to talk about what's not on this list. It's my understanding that JH Sissons School on 51A is the oldest school in the NWT. I wonder if the Minister could tell me when we can expect to see a renovation at that school? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Could the Minister say when this van was last replaced? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Finally today, a couple of timing questions. The first is, when does the Minister expect to conclude the negotiations with the federal government for more money? The second is, when does she expect to report to the House on the information she's collected from stakeholders? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like the Minister to answer this question: why did your department change its income assistance regulations and stop funding food and clothing allowances for children under 18?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in August of this year changes came into effect for the Income Assistance Regulations administered by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. The department changed the amount of both the food and the clothing allowances available to low-income families. Mr. Speaker, the department refers to the number of people in a household as units. Until the end of July a household included each member in the family counted as a unit for the purpose of food and clothing calculations.

At the beginning of August the new regulations counted only adults and mature...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to table the "Social Assistance Act Income Assistance Regulations" and "Exemplars, Income Assistance Changes, July 2016." Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister  and please take this as I'm concerned, and it took a lot of work to get to this point. So I'm not too surprised you haven't heard from people who are on income assistance. My question is: why did your department change its income assistance regulations and stop funding food and clothing allowances for children? So we're talking specifically about NWT income assistance regulations.