Thank you, Mr. Chair. The part-time position would be mostly providing support to the licensed daycare centres and family homes currently in place. The regional coordinator's job, and that has been my direction, is the job to get into the communities that aren't there and to try to do education, public forums, to talk about the services that we have. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you. So not only are we asking them to go out there and promote the daycares, but you are supposed to help this part-time position, so we are just loading up on this individual here, to do more work. Can the Minister explain that rationale? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am trying to remember back to the days when I actually ran a daycare, which wasn't too long ago, actually. You have to remember that these positions are not in the daycare every single day. In fact, when I was running the daycare in Yellowknife here, that position came by twice a year, if I was lucky, usually for the inspection and then just prior to the inspection, a couple of months before, to actually do a mock inspection, to talk about things we were doing. So it is not a full-time position, that they need to be in the licensed daycare centres 24/7. It is more of an inspection role. It is a support role to talk to them about if they are having trouble with their reporting forms, if they are not sure of the funding that is available, but it is not an on-site position. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand it is not an on-site position, but you want to have support. It is just not all about funding. It is supporting the daycares to do the job properly for our youth. So, again, I have a concern that it is only a half-time position, but I am going to move on to another topic. In regard to the $13-million surplus for the district education authority, does the Minister have a breakdown that she can share with us? She doesn't have to share it today. Is she able to share with committee to show the breakdown in these areas? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am more than happy to share a breakdown of it. However, I am asking for a little bit of time because the statistics that we have are from 2017-2018. I would rather get some more current stats, for 2018-2019, to be able to provide to the Members. I am just trying to find out when we know when that will be coming. The difficulty is that their fiscal year ends in July, so the data wouldn't be able to be given to the Members until the fall, which is just before. We could provide old information from 2017-2018, which is really outdated, if that is what is desired. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. We could probably find that in the public accounts right now. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Minister keeps on talking to us about $13 million as a surplus. Now, all of a sudden, we have to wait actually until later on. My question, though, is: if a district education authority has the ability to come up with a plan to utilize the surplus that actually will enhance the education for our youth, can they use that money without getting it clawed back? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The $13 million that I had stated as a surplus was the surplus from 2017-2018. We are projecting that the fiscal year 2018-2019 actually will have a higher surplus. There were some difficulties with the accounting on some of the education bodies during 2017-2018. That bodies, there was only one in deficit, was actually projecting a surplus in the 2018-2019 because of the adjustments to the accounting, so it is not really reflective. Currently, how it stands, as stated earlier, the authorities are allowed to maintain 7 percent of their surplus, and they have to provide a plan for how they are going to use their surplus funding within the year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand in the riding that I represent they already have plan of what they want to allocate the money for. If it is more than 7 percent, does that mean that they can't do the project; they have to find the money elsewhere? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. To be clear, they can keep the 7 percent. The rest of the surplus, they actually have to give the plan for that much money. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess my next set of questions is just in regards to positions being lost. Right now, we are seeing a decline of 60 students in the Deh Cho, so we are going to see positions being lost. Right now, we are bare bones. You know, when you talk about extraordinary circumstances, that is after. Has the department looked at setting up to look at these situations where we are going to lose 60 students and it is going to have an impact on the education system? Have you looked at it, and are you willing to work with that board to get it to be successful? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The realization that our numbers are declining in enrolments and the struggles that some of the smaller schools would face within that is the reason that I committed to doing a review of the funding formula, so that will impact it, as well. I am more than willing, if not myself because I am pretty busy, we are more than willing to meet with the education council to discuss their needs and a strategy and to look at what their issues are. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Nothing further from Mr. Thompson. Education, Culture and Employment, early childhood and school services, operations expenditure summary, activity total, $199,473,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Please turn to activity 4, income security. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I note on page 46 that the department is anticipating a $2.674-million increase in income assistance in the forthcoming fiscal year. Can the Minister describe: is that because of program increases, or is it because of an increased number of cases? Could she give us some detail? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. $1.676 million of that is additional funding for clients, the numbers of people accessing, increases in rent and utilities, so forced growth within that; $3,000 is the 1-percent salary increase for non-unionized employees; and $989,000 is for the CPI increase for disability and aged allowance, which moved that program from $300 a month to $405 a month for seniors and people with disabilities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. What I understand from that answer as I was quickly taking notes is that the increase doesn't take into account that there will be a certain percentage of increase of the number of people collecting income assistance in the next fiscal year? Is that correct? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is not correct. Actually, it does. The $1.676 million actually increases for additional clientele accessing income support services. I will give examples. In 2015-2016, there was 20,007 people, and that year there was an increase of 1,592, so 2016-2017 it was adjusted to 21,599. Then, at the end of that year, there were an additional 3,283, which in 2017-2018 gave us 24,882. So, each year, we are keeping stats of the numbers, and each year we adjust it based on the actual people who are accessing services and then the forced growth for additional costs for the provision of the services. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not sure I followed all of that, but I get the general impression there. My next question is: I know the Minister has looked at how income assistance can be reformed, and I think she has tabled, she has revealed anyway, a "what we heard" report. I am wondering whether any of the reforms that she is looking at will have financial costs that will be implemented in the next fiscal year. Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In honesty, I've read the initial report from the NGO and the income support people who we worked with. I had put out a call to Aboriginal governments and to MLAs to provide their feedback for me. There was also a municipal government that wanted to have some input in that, as well, so I have allowed that. I have not, in all honesty, given it a lot of thought. I am desperate for this session to be over because my department knows that, as soon as this session is over, I am tackling that. The idea will be just like what I did with the housing program. I will be looking at short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals, recognizing that we only have a few months left, and so I want to knock off as many of the short-term goals as possible. Then, my hope is that the next Assembly, that MLAs who are here and listening, will actually bring that forward and continue that work. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Ms. Green.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the detail the Minister was able to provide. In the category of short-term goals, does she anticipate that there will be more spending required in income assistance as part of her reform initiative? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I cannot give a definitive answer because I have not really spent to time to look at it. I am assuming that probably not, being based that we just put in $1.676 million in this budget for the additional forced growth that we are using. I am hoping that we are looking at different methods, really focusing on our productive choices, how people are using it, payment plans, things that are easier versus just increasing income support. I think personally that increasing income support is not the answer; it's actually working with people so that they are not independent, I know people like to use that, but semi-dependent, so that we can actually recognize their work and their productive choices. I think it's a combination of things, but I don't see it actually being extra monies at this time because we have the $1.676 million already allocated. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Ms. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the Minister. One of the things that I hear about income assistance is that healthcare is not covered for people who are using the productive choice option for treatment or counselling outside of the home, for those kinds of options. Can the Minister confirm that that's the case, and is there any thought to changing that? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister.
. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have asked my staff, and, at this point, they do not know, but they both look bewildered. I can commit that, when we get that, childcare and the productive choices should be included. If a person only has a short appointment or the person is coming in, we need to look at that, but, if people are going to regular appointments, they need to be provided childcare supports for that. Yes, it is something I am definitely going to take heed of, and I would appreciate if the MLA could put that in her comments so that it can actually remind me. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Ms. Green.
Okay, yes. Thank you. I am pleased to do that, and I will have other comments, as well. I have nothing further on this section. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you. In regards to productive choices, we are talking about that, would the ability for somebody to upgrade, would they be able to do that through this program? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, yes, productive choices includes things like training, upgrading, and education. Health, wellness, volunteering in the community, and paid work, those are all included in productive choice. Of course, the whole idea is to promote wellness. I know people say "self-sufficiency," but I say "combined sufficiency" so that people will get the best of their abilities, not to just stay that they are going to get kicked off the system but that they will obtain the best that they can. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson.
