Steve Norn

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the Chair rise and report progress. Mahsi cho.

Mahsi cho, Madam Chair. I disagree with some of the Minister's comments. When I looked at this, I still get some complaints from my constituents about this policy. I said before, if you look at any government department across the country, they try to make it so that their working population is the reflection of the population it serves. Not so, the way it is here right now. That still upsets me. I think we could still make some changes. I think there are some real changes we can make here, I believe, if we take the commitment from a legal standpoint, because I heard there might be a Charter...

Thank you to the responding Minister. That's encouraging. Again, I'm hoping to see more of our other departments working with each other, because this is a multidepartment issue. I am hoping to hear from the Minister whether he's willing to work with the other departments to get this done and have a policy moving forward that makes sense, that will encourage small business owners to get on their feet.

Thank you for the response from the Minister. I kind of feel like I got a contact hit with a bat; not quite a home run, but that's something. I want to make sure that the public is aware of this, too, so my next question is: will the Minister commit to putting a communications plan in place to let the public know, who are living in these units, to be aware of this new program?

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. During our review of the mandate over the past few sitting days, one area of the mandate that stood out for me was the area where it said, "increase employment in small communities." Further to that, we spoke about an amendment under the NWT Housing Corporation policy which will allow appropriate home businesses to operate within our units. I think this is a great idea. We need to give our residents every opportunity to succeed and be self-sufficient. Our economy, right now, is not where it needs to be. We need to think of any and every opportunity to find more jobs and...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a quick comment, I guess, about this policy, too, as well, like, the self-reporting aspect. My biggest fear is, from what I have seen, I believe that there is a significant portion of our government workforce who are not reporting properly, and I feel that a lot of people are falling through the cracks who should be getting jobs and aren't. That's where I was going with this. That's all I have to say on this. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Committee would like to consider Tabled Document 30-19(2) Main Estimates 2020-2021, starting with the Department of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question is: this form was quite difficult to get, and it wasn't readily accessible. Will the Minister commit to having this form in electronic form, easier access for the public because I didn't see it, and that is for potential claimants and also have a quick tutorial just to make sure, probably a start to our dialogue to make it a little easier, so have a quick tutorial to how to use this form? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister, for that very detailed answer. On the form here, it says, four to six weeks. I guess I didn't really quite get an answer. In addition to this four to six weeks that it states on the form, is there an additional delay for claimants?

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. The medical travel expense claim form in its current format is not user-friendly, and it has been reported to me that they are hard to understand and to fill out, causing unnecessary delays. I have it here in front of me, and I am looking at it. I walked through with one of my constituents. It was a very difficult process. I think it would have been far easier to go take their claims and go to H&R Block and go fill it out, but I don't think we want to do that with our constituents to do these forms. I...