Julie Green

The information I'm drawing on is information that the Minister provided. We're talking about the amount of money that's paid to income assistance recipients. In every example that the Minister provided, the amount of money paid for clothing and for food has gone down.

While the bottom line for most people is better, it's not as good as it could be because the overall effect of the Canada Child Tax Benefit has been diminished. So my question again is: how can the Minister justify not enabling families to collect the whole amount that they are eligible for?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I wonder if the Minister could tell me what the rationale is for reducing clothing and food benefits to income assistance recipients since the introduction of the Canada Child Tax Benefit? Masi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I'll go to the bottom line, and this is what it is: the GNWT is helping to perpetuate the poverty trap. They are not allowing families to experience the full benefit of the new federal anti-poverty initiative. Shame, Mr. Speaker, shame for trying to save money on the backs of the most vulnerable residents of this territory. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister tell us, then, whether the media report of the centre selling for $880,000 is accurate and why and how it came to be sold for that price? Thank you.

How did the NWT Housing Corporation arrive at a price for that land and building?

I wonder if the Minister could give me even some preliminary thoughts about what this review might look like, who would do it, when it would be done and so on and so forth? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I'm tempted to ask for even bigger and better things since I've got the Minister mostly saying yes.

Laughter

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. So, back to my question about oversight, when the same consultants are repeated beneficiaries of solesource contracts, shouldn't we occasionally look to see whether other suppliers might not provide value for money? The only review of solesource contracting I can locate is the 2009 Auditor General's review of GNWT contracting. The OAG reported that one in five solesource contracts was not properly awarded. Mr. Speaker, the increased limits make the stakes that much higher. I will have questions for the Finance Minister. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Finance Minister for that. One of the points in my statement was that some people seem to benefit disproportionately from solesource contracting. I mentioned deputy ministers and consultants who had multiple contracts among them for quite a steep value. I wonder if the Minister would consider, as part of his review, looking at whether there need to be some limits on the number of contracts awarded to a single individual or, alternatively, a total value of contracts awarded to a single individual? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Could you reverse the 100… no? okay.

Laughter