Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Minister?
Yes, and I appreciate the Member bringing up questions in terms of retroactive pay and whether the GNWT can focus that on their own in terms of funding as questions were in the House earlier today, and last time we did the income assistance increase was April 1st, 2015. The increase was about 20 per cent. Currently, our government doesn't have any policy to reflect changes in income assistance. We review on a case-by-case basis. To get to a couple of the other details, I will ask my deputy minister to get into a bit more details of the program and where we can see some real changes. As I mentioned in the House, these are going to be some great changes for low- to moderate-income families moving forward, and the sooner we can get on that and bring it into force the better it'll be for our residents. I'll ask my deputy minister to give a little bit more detail. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Recognizing Deputy Minister Stewart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In terms of timing, the changes for income assistance that do not include the Canada Child Benefit and custody payments as part of the calculation. That'll take place on August 1st for the calculation for the August month. My understanding is that the federal changes will start to roll out in July, so it'll time well with those changes. The changes to the NWT Child Benefit will require the legislative changes and the likely timing is the fall for that. Once we have those changes in place, then we have to work with the federal government on implementing those, although we're doing some of that already, and then once that change takes place then those payments will start to roll out. The effective date of the change to the NWT Child Benefit of course would have to be when the legislation changes.
Thank you, Mr. Stewart. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair, and thanks to the deputy minister for that response. I would encourage the department then to move forward then as quickly as they can so we can help our folks better on income assistance. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Minister.
I appreciate the support and we want to make sure that we work well with committee when that legislative proposal comes through to get the consultation that it needs and get it passed.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We talked about April 1, 2015, as the first time it was 20 per cent. Why hasn't the department developed a policy that shows there will be annual increases to this program to the cost index? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister.
Yes, as I mentioned in the House when taking questions on this, we're just doing a scan right now to see what other jurisdictions are doing. Member O'Reilly has brought up the Yukon index and we're taking a look at that. We’re looking at what other jurisdictions are doing. As I said, we review yearly. We always want to make sure our programs and services are adequate enough to support those that need it, but we're just doing a scan right now to see what policies are out there. The Yukon has been brought up and we're taking a look at that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for his answer. I understand that you do it every year; you look at it every year. I honestly believe this government needs to have a policy especially in this area here because it just seems to be willy-nilly. I mean we talk about 2015 was a 20 per cent increase issue there was nothing. I understand what the Minister's saying: you guys are going to go out there and look, but in reality I think we need to have a policy in place that says that we're looking at increasing it every year, cost of index, because we're talking about people who live below the poverty line with this money, and if we're really going to care about these people that are less fortunate, they should understand that we need a policy in place that will address this. It’s not just done once. I guess the question is when was the time before? If it was done in April 1, 2015, when was the last time there was an increase to it. I guess that would be my first question on that long ramble. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do want to state that the Income Assistance Program is probably one of the better programs we offer to those that do need it, and the changes that we are proposing are going to be reflective in increasing those changes. As mentioned earlier when I got asked in the House, we're going to see increases in some of this funding for low- to moderate-income families that are going to benefit. I mean, it's great. I've also talked about the Northern Market Basket Measure. Stats Canada has one for all jurisdictions across Canada; however they didn't reflect the costs and prices here in the Northwest Territories, Yukon, or Nunavut. In 2014 we worked together to develop the northern basket measure and that's when it reflected in the costs that were increased by 20 per cent back then. Right now, you know our focus is to make sure that we get these changes in place so that our low– to moderate-income families actually start benefitting and seeing the dollars. If we start putting our energies into getting a policy done without doing the scan, it could take away some of the work moving forward in the other areas where we'll see actually action and the benefits. Before 2014, I don't know the exact date, but because we got that northern basket measure that reflected the increase. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm not questioning you about the program. Yes, it's one of the best things and you're doing a great job in it; however, it comes back, I believe it was 2009, so six years later, 2014, you're doing it, so we're not seeing an increase. You know, six years down the road. I understand that it's a lot of work to do. I am hoping that you can do the scan, but at the end of the day, what are we telling the people of the Northwest Territories that earn low income? That, you know, it's the best program out there, but we have other priorities? That to me is wrong. I think we need a policy. We can do the scan, but after the scan is done, I'd like to see a policy implemented by the department so that the policy is linked to the market basket measure. It's there; it's not six years down the road; it's done yearly. I'm asking the Minister: after the scan is done will you make a commitment to look at developing a policy that can link to the market basket measures so every year April 1st based on that basket, there could be an increase? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister.
Yes, I'll make the commitment to look into creating a policy moving forward after we do the scan and see the feasibilities of that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that. When is the scan going to be completed? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister.
Yes, thank you. As soon as the questions are brought up into the House from Member O'Reilly on the Yukon index. Through the business planning session when we went through the review made; the department was looking and seeing what's happening. The Yukon index… We really weren't too sure, but that was kind of new, so we want to take a look at that one as well because it is reflective of northern residents as well.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Is it going to be done this year or is it going to be next year when the scan is done? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister.
Yes, we could look at making sure that it's done before the end of the fiscal year.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that clarification. Regarding student financial assistance and student grants, there's a difference of about $3.1 million. What's the difference in that? Is there something... Again, it's kind of confusing so I'm trying to figure out what the difference is between your financial assistance for the program detail and then the expenditure category? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister.
Yes, some of those are reflected in the changes that we made with the northern bonus for students coming back to work and the northern grant also went up. I believe in the last session we gave a really good update on all these changes that we were making to the Student Financial Assistance program. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. If I understand correctly from the Minister, the $3.16 million is increase to the program that's been part of the budget. Is that what the money is or are there other allocations for that in financial assistance? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister.
Yes, as I mentioned, northern grants have increased for our northern residents, as well as the northern bonus for anybody that's coming back to work in the north or even an option for southern students that want to come and work up in the Northwest Territories. It's an increase so we can actually attract skilled development workforce as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, is that $3.16 million increase in those three areas or is there something else in that? Because I look at the student grants, it's at $13.25 million, and then I look at student financial assistance on the other page, it's $16.419 million. I'm very happy if the northern grants are going up by $3.16 million or is there other money that… Because there's a difference between what's on the grants and what's on the financial assistance. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister, on extra clarity.
Yes, for more clarity and more detail we'll go to Deputy Minister Stewart please.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Recognizing Deputy Minister Stewart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The value that's in there is the total cost of operating the Student Financial Assistance program. That $16.4 million breaks down, and these are approximate numbers, there's about $685,000 for the staff that operate the program, there's about $13.3 million that are the grants that actually go out for the basic allowance and the supports that are provided. There's a small amount of other O and M for materials and travel, but the biggest other portion is a valuation allowance for student loans. It's about $2.4 million. That’s the difference between the amount that goes out as grant payments and the total budget of the $16.4 million. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Stewart. Mr. Thompson.
Now I can get a better picture of where this money is because I'm sitting there going, well, $3.1 million going into this funding would be great, but in fees and payments there's a reduction of approximately $1.7 million. Could the Minister clarify what the reduction in this is? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister.
Yes, for the detail on that I'll go to my deputy minister.
Thank you. Mr. Minister. Recognizing Deputy Minister Stewart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In 2015-16, we had a particularly high caseload under the Income Assistance Program. Now we received a supplementary appropriation to reflect that higher caseload. That was one-time money. It isn’t ongoing at this point in terms of the caseload. But as happens in many years, if there is higher caseloads then we would have to come back for another appropriation, but in 2015-16, there were higher caseloads than the historical case. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Stewart. Mr. Thompson.
I think my time is up there, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
