Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are directed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. The Gwich’in Assembly passed a motion last year directing the Gwich’in Tribal Council to make an elders payout for elders over the age of 70 and then also they made a second payment to elders 60 and over to age 69. Mr. Speaker, under the Gwich’in Land Claim Agreement it is pretty clear in regards to these payments not being clawed back by governments, regardless if it is the federal government or the Government of the Northwest Territories. But it is pretty apparent, Mr. Speaker, that those elders, especially the ones 60 and over who depend on income support have had their payments clawed back.
Mr. Speaker, there is a letter written to the Premier and the Minister of Health and Social Services and also a letter to the Department of Education on this matter. I would like to ask the Minister exactly why is it that this government clawed back the elders’ payment to the Gwich’in elders in regards to their portion of income, which was somewhere around $2,600, but again those people weren’t allowed any income support payments or support for the whole month of December because of these payments which they were left without. I would just like to ask: why is the government doing that, knowing that it is an exemption in the agreement?
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The clawback has been addressed the last several years now, so we made some changes to our existing programming, the policy that we have in place. After numerous discussions that we had in the Legislative Assembly, the standing committee and the general public, we decided that there was an exemption that was put on the table, a $1,200 exemption on individuals that can qualify. The $3,500 that the Member is referring to, there have been payouts by the organization in the Beaufort-Delta, but we are currently looking into that specific area through the initial justice system to find out what is in the agreement. They are tax exempt as if from land claims money as if from a business arm, so those are the discussions that we are having currently ongoing. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Under the Gwich’in Land Claim Agreement under Chapter 11, which is the taxation chapter, it clearly states that the Gwich’in Settlement Corporation is exempt from any federal, territorial or local government taxes and similar charges are exempt from the settlement corporation and such. Any capital distribution to elders over the age of 60 years are, therefore, exempt from taxes and other charges, including clawbacks of their income support. So I’d just like to ask the Minister, knowing that that provision falls under the land claim agreement under section 11, which legislation is the government considering in light of this land claim provision, which clearly stipulates that no exemptions would be taken on those type of payments.
Mahsi. Those are the detailed information that we need to address within our Department of ECE, the Department of Justice and the organization itself. When we talk about chapters, there are different chapters where the funding has been allocated. So, certainly, those are areas that we need to look at. The detail of are they tax exempt and if they are what can we do as a department on a going forward basis, we’ve been having this discussion just since the issuance of the $3,500 has been dispersed. So we are in the process of going forward and talking to organizations. Mahsi.
Thank you. I hope that the department and the Minister’s department can try to bring a quick resolution to this, because the seniors, the reason that they did this is because we are losing a lot of seniors and we’re hoping that we can get this money into their hands so that they can at least have an opportunity to spend it and use it to their expense and not have it clawed back. So I’d like to ask the Minister if he can give me some assurance that they will try to remedy this situation as soon as possible. Thank you.
Mahsi. That is what we are currently discussing to look further into the actual agreement itself and our policy. We need to resolve this issue, because it doesn’t only impact in that area but also other land claim settlement areas as well. So we’re being cautious of moving forward. So, certainly, that information will certainly be shared with the standing committee as we move forward. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Hopefully we are able to compensate those individuals who were basically affected by this by way of not allowing them. So I’d just like to ask the Minister if he could somehow work with the Gwich’in Tribal Council and those elders that are affected by the clawback and see if we can work with them to notify them that there is a possibility of being reimbursed for those loses by way of the clawback. Thank you.
Mahsi. We all depend on the agreement that we have in place, whether it be with the Gwich’in, the Beaufort-Delta, within our GNWT system. So, yes, we are going to continue having those types of discussions and we want to expedite the process so we can come out with a solution. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
