Steve Norn

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. Going back to what I was saying in my Member's statement about allowing small businesses into NWT Housing Corporation units, I have some questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. For some context here, I'm keeping in mind these parents struggling to support their families who are on Income Assistance to get their small businesses up and running. My question to the Minister is: will the Minister commit to having a six-month grace period for individuals with their small businesses to have their Income Assistance not be affected while their business...

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to speak a little bit about my Member's statement earlier about the NWT Housing Corporation allowing appropriate small businesses to operate within their units. It's great, you know, when we did our round table, I always mentioned that we need to humanize our policies right across the board. I couldn't figure out a word to describe it, but I think my colleague from Yellowknife North really, in his address, mentioned that a lot of our policies are rigid. There is too much rigidity there, so, I'm happy to see that we're moving forward and being more...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Another thing, too, is aftercare. It is really important to always follow up with any sort of treatment program and preventing relapse, and I think it is important that we closely track this to measure change, positive change. What measures is the Premier planning to go forward with to help measure this success? Mahsi cho.

Mahsi cho, Madam Chair. This one here is very near and dear to me, addiction issues and aftercare. It was a big part of my platform, and I spoke to a lot of people about this. For me, I mentioned before when we did our roundtable, I have been sober for a long time now. I struggled with alcohol for many years, and I am glad to say now, it is been over seven years. You try to lead by example, and that is what I am doing, but there has to be more than that. You talk to a lot of people who are in pain right now. They are suffering, and you just feel powerless when you go through your campaign. Now...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have been looking at this one. Affordable food is so important, and you look at food indexes and the price of just a basic bag of groceries costs in the territories, just insane prices in the small communities. Again, I have said this a couple of times, I always think about the single parents in the small communities, and any sort of fluctuation affects those vulnerable sectors. That is what I would like to see. Right now, I am looking at things like the greenhouses and community gardens. It says they want to ensure supports in this document, so my question to the...