Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister responsible for ECE. In no way my questions or statement is belittling the recipients of this program; I just want a better lifestyle for these individuals.
Will the department look at changing its policies in regards to having the recipients for this program completing a productive choice before they're eligible to receive income support? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I think it will be an interesting week next week because we already have some kind of competing mindsets. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
So, Mr. Speaker, the productive choices are still a requirement within the income assistance program. And back in 2020 when changes were starting to happen within the income assistance review, productive choices were switched to what's called a wellness selfcare productive choice, which means that there's no requirement of reporting. And the reason for this is when the department went out and did the review and they spoke with Indigenous governments, they spoke with NGOs and current and past clients, they spoke with departments and even the public to get feedback on everything, and there was really a split. But what people decided was that the intended goals of the productive choice were not being met, so at that point it was decided that there would be no reporting requirement and with the changes of the review going forward later this year, we will see no requirement whatsoever for productive choices. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the response from the Minister. Will the department look at developing training programs where these individuals can enroll and further their education and life skills to be less reliant on the system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I listened to the Member's statement today, and I absolutely agree with the Member that all of our residents have great potential and that it is our job as their family, friends, and neighbours to ensure that they have the support to reach that potential if they want it and if they need it. Within the department of education, there are career counsellors, there are employability assessments and resume and cover letter development help if people want it. There's interview skill development, career action planning. There's job search help as well. There's also workforce development training dollars that people can access if they're looking just to do kind of an eightweek program. There's also student financial assistance. And then even within our schools too, before people leave their school system or the school system in the community, there are the career education advisers who really take great pride in their job and they go into communities, they go into schools, and they sit down with students and say, what do you want to do and how can I help you get there? And that's just an invaluable resource that our students have access to, and I would love to see them replicate it and grow and there to be more of them. So what I really hope that people hear right now today is there are resources out there and if there is something you want to do, the department of education wants to support you to get there. Thank you.
Thank you for the encouraging words, that's very promising. Providing the recipients with a cheque is not working in respect to the client spending the money on unethical resources. Can the department look at alternatives like working in collaboration with their local outlets where's to set up some sort of an account? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this was something that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment did used to do at one point; however, with the NWT Human Rights Act, issuing payments through a voucher system is seen to be contrary to sections 5 and sections 11 of the NWT Human Rights Act. And so I am open to other suggestions from my colleagues, but I want to ensure that whatever we do is in line with the law and with the Human Rights Act. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe you stated that a review will be conducted sometime in the near future. I will be contacting my resource people and Indigenous leaders. Can you tell me when the review will be conducted? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the review was done in the 19th Assembly, and it was anticipated that the changes would actually come into play for residents of the Northwest Territories before the start of the 20th Assembly, but this project has been held up and delayed due to system requirements on our IT side, and so it is anticipated that these changes will be seen by residents coming in the summer of this year. Thank you.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.
