Statements in Debates
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I believe it was in last year's budget that there was a $370,000 reduction in inspections, and I am just wondering: I have noticed in the business plans that the number of inspections for leases and land use permits and so on are steady if not increasing, so how did that cut affect our inspection capacity? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
I am happy to take the promotion from the Premier inviting me over to that side of the House any day. What I would like to ask the Premier next, then, is if he could tell us whether GNWT prepared a written submission for the Ministerial Special Representative on Arctic Leadership, and if so, can he table it in the House?
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that sometimes those triggers might be external. You know, I guess another example is for those people who work, the Minister does appoint a minimum wage committee that gives him some advice. There seems to be a regular cycle for that. Why don't we have some sort of regular cycle for review of income assistance rates and payments? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Merci, Monsieur le President. It was very disappointing to hear the Premier reject the report and findings of the Ministerial Special Representative on Arctic Leadership, Mary Simon, in this House on February 13th.
Ms. Simon held 65 engagement meetings involving 170 people, including the Premier, and received 34 written submissions to help her prepare her report. That's a lot more than the zero public engagement that the three northern Premiers undertook in putting together the Pan-Territorial Vision for resource development. Whoops. Sustainable Development.
Ms. Simon's excellent report made a...
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, that is, I guess, what I was kind of worried about. So what triggers a review of any of those sort of rates for income assistance? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. My questions are going to be kind of similar to my colleague's from Yellowknife Centre, but I am going to be asking about income assistance. It is on page 46. There is an increase from 2017-2018 to 2018-2019. It is maybe about $1.75 million. Can the Minister explain this change and what, if any, parts of income assistance have been increased and why? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks, Mr. Chair, and I do appreciate the Minister passing along that information. So, if the preliminary results seem to indicate that this is not likely going to work, are we still cutting the funding to the DEAs to $200,000, or is the Minister suggesting that we should put that money back into the budget? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I appreciate that. So maybe I can just ask the Minister. So the first step is going to be a discussion paper. The usual process seems to be that there is a "what we heard" report, a legislative proposal, and then a bill arrives in the House. Is that the process that we are going to use here, and can the Minister just give us some rough ideas of the timing of those different steps? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thanks --
Thanks, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate the Minister's answer. So, if Dechinta was getting $500,000 before, what are they getting in 20182019? Thanks, Mr. Chair.