Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it is you know, there are some people who are on income assistance when they turn 19. And one of the changes that I think is really important that's been made to the program as well is it used to be that if there was an adult living in a home with a parent who was on income assistance, that that dependent child who was living at home would have to go out and go on income assistance right away. And one of the changes that has been made to the program is that that person can remain a dependent and not have to go on income assistance right away, not to have to declare their income to income assistance until after the age of 22 so that they're able to go out to work, to start a job, and to be able to still remain in the home. And I think that's really important because I think as parents, we all want the opportunity to empower our youth to be able to generate a bit of a nest egg before they leave the nest. And so I think this is a really important change to the program as well. Thank you.
thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the Minister track demographics of clients; what do we know about the types of clients on income assistance?
Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are demographics that are tracked. We know where people live. We know the ages of clients. We know if it is you know, what their gender identity is. And so I think that depending on what the Member is looking for, I can either provide more information or can align some of the demographics with whatever it is that the Member is looking for, as long as we are ensuring that we are still only collecting data that we actually need for the program, for the government, and respecting people's privacy. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And in keeping with the theme of the day, I have some questions on income support.
Mr. Speaker, my first question is considering removal of the productive choice and employment requirements, as we've been talking about a fair bit this afternoon already, how is the department proposing to continue work to reduce dependency on income support? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd say one of the significant changes that I've had the opportunity to speak to quite a bit today is freeing up quite a bit of time of client navigators by ensuring that we are reducing administrative burdens to a significant number of income assistance clients. That leaves about 60 percent of income assistance clients who are still reporting month to month. And it allows the client navigators to form more indepth relationships with those clients. So it means that all of a sudden they are able to make stronger connections within the communities that these clients live in and that they want to work in. It means that we are connecting clients to more opportunities within communities. We have heard from multiple Members in this House about some of the ways that traditionally income assistance clients through sometimes productive choices have had the opportunity to add to community, and there are tremendous amount of people there, especially in the North, who want to be able to build strong communities. And so how can we connect them to those opportunities?
In addition to that, it's connecting people to, like I said, education, and with my ITI hat on, there's a tremendous amount of programs and people over there who are eager to support people with their entrepreneurial goals. And that is a goal of mine, is to see a lot more entrepreneurs in the territory as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So if there aren't triggers in terms of the requirements that were previously put, are there going to be any kind of triggers or places where some kind of connection point is created with the department so people are connected with these client navigators who have new time to be engaging with clients? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, income assistance is a month to month program, which means that there is already a baked in month to month connection for a tremendous amount of income assistance clients with their client navigators. So these are relationships that every month are being worked on. In addition to that, there is also the career development officers that work within the regional offices as well. And these are people who are creating pathways to whatever are the career goals of persons as well. And so the client navigators would also be able to work in conjunction with those roles too. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, yeah, I would just say to the Minister I hope to see some new programming coming forward to that end to getting people connected with employment.
Mr. Speaker, on a slightly different note, section 24(v) of the income assistance regulations requires people to drain their retirement savings in order to be eligible for income assistance. Is the Minister willing to review these regulations to see if we can achieve the balance of program fairness without forcing people to compromise their longterm future? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am most definitely willing to look further into any part of any regulation. I think it's really important that we ensure that we're supporting our most vulnerable residents while still ensuring that we're also maintaining fiscal responsibility. I think it's also prudent for me to also say that income assistance is intended to be a program of last resort and is intended to pick people up when they need to be picked up in order to get to the next month and hopefully be able to access programs that lift them out of that program as well. And so yes, definitely willing to look at that. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I spoke about the inspiring work initiated by the Indigenous governments in my region in providing food baskets and country foods to residents or beneficiaries up there. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs and our Premier. I know he's well versed in all things food security, and I'd like to ask him how is the Government of the Northwest Territories working with Indigenous government in the Inuvik region to address food security? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT has a number of programs that we are utilizing to help address food security issues. We have $1.75 million available each year under the antipoverty fund. And that has been disbursed in the Member's region quite widely. It can be used for a number of different things. So the Aklavik Community Corp has received money for the beluga harvesting program. The hamlet of Paulatuk has a food security program. They've received $25,000. Inuvik Native Band, $30,000 for food supports. Inuvik Youth Centre, $30,000 for the dropin centre. So there's an entire list here of ways that we are working with the Member's region to support food security. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank Premier Simpson for that information, certainly it's good to get that on public record.
Mr. Speaker, how is the department working with the federal government to maximize the Nutrition North support programs for my region?
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So currently, the federal government is undertaking an internal review of the Nutrition North program, and so we're waiting to hear what comes of that. But I can tell you that there is constant advocacy to the federal government regarding the Nutrition North program. It was spoken about in this House many times by the former Premier. I'm sure it'll be on future meeting agendas when I meet with the Minister of northern affairs as well. And so this is an area where there's obviously significant interest across the North. Is it a perfect program? Of course not. But I know that there are examples of significant supports being provided to ensure that small remote communities have accesses to some basic necessities. And I will continue to press the federal government to make improvements to that program. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know oftentimes, you know, some of our issues are communicating what we're doing in our regions. And I'm not sure if working with other departments such as ITI or ECE, can the Minister kind of let me know how the Government of the Northwest Territories is ensuring that our communities that are eligible for the harvester support grant and the country foods subsidies are being made aware of this support? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The thing about food security, as a file, is that it cuts across the entire government. We have food security initiatives obviously in ITI, in ECE, in ECC. And so I don't have that detail right now but I can commit to getting back to the Member with that. Thank you.
Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for that answer. And I look forward to that information.
One final one, Mr. Speaker, I know that the Minister spoke about the funding, the $1.7 million. Can he speak specifically what the department's doing to support the work of the community food banks in Inuvik, please?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, in terms of the specific numbers for food banks, I will have to get back to the Member. But as I stated, there is funding through the antipoverty grant and other areas where we do provide support. But I can commit to getting that information. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from the Dehcho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, according to the income assistance regulations, an applicant is required to provide a home address before assistance is granted. So if a person is homeless and does not have a fixed home address, can the Minister confirm if that person will be denied eligibility to receive income assistance? Thank you.
Thank you, member from Dehcho. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know personally of some people who have received income assistance but did not have a fixed address. And so I would like to be able to the Member did mention a couple of people in her community and would like to be able to specifically work on those cases with the Member to see what we can do. Thank you.
Thank you. And thank you to the Minister for that. Mr. Speaker, hypothetically, if an individual is living on the land or living off the grid or in a tent outside the municipal boundary of an NWT community, would such an individual be eligible to receive income assistance? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I heard the Member's statement today, and I absolutely agree with the importance of having the opportunity to be out on the land. And so I wanted to assure the Member that an applicant can access income assistance benefits if they are temporary outside of their home community. And this definitely applies to residents that are participating in traditional activities as well. It would be very important, though, that the applicant who intends to go out on the land apply for income assistance before they go away and to notify their client navigator right away so that work on this can be done before they head out on the land. And I think it's also worthwhile to the Member to know as well that client navigators can advance income assistance benefits for up to two months, but it's important that the applicant needs to demonstrate to the client navigator that they will be residing in a remote and inaccessible location for the extended period of time, because it's not a typical thing that's done. Normally, it is a month to month application period for clients who are not part of or won't be part of the seniors and persons with disability bracket. And so there is something that can be done there, but it's important that people come prepared and they act early before they're out on the land in order to be able to set up that arrangement. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Speaker, if an individual who is living off the land due to various circumstances, including with the intent to seek sobriety and improve their life for the better, does the Minister agree that such an individual ought to be entitled to some level of social assistance? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this, I find, relates to the first question as well and I think it's really important to reiterate that people don't need a fixed address in order to be able to access income assistance. For example, we also have people who are living in shelters who access income assistance. And so I absolutely agree that, you know, housing is not a privilege that everybody has at this time and that we need to make sure that we are coming together and working as hard as we can to make sure that there are solutions for residents and that we do what we can. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Dehcho.
thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister commit to looking at whether people that are on income assistance but living outside of the boundary, the community boundary, but living the region, are they still eligible for income assistance? And can they go to a client navigator and still get that information and be able to get the assistance from the income assistance worker? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, if somebody qualifies for income assistance and they do not have a fixed address and they are, you know, living on the land, absolutely go and speak with your client navigator and make sure that you have that conversation with them and that you are able to apply with them. It would, again, be the same response from the first question, which is that absolutely, people can access income assistance outside of their home community. They do not need a fixed address in order to access income assistance, and that if somebody qualifies, I absolutely encourage them to follow up with their client navigator so that we can ensure they have the support that they need. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister for Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is also continuing with my questions for ECE Minister.
For income assistance clients that want to go back to school, this is what we heard from many of our constituents or from the small communities due to lack of housing, wants to go back to school and complete their education, can the Minister work with the Minister of housing to ensure that these students have their home to return to after studies? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it was my understanding that ensuring that students have pathways to education and then being able to return to their home communities is something that was changed in the last Assembly, but I can absolutely commit to having that conversation with my colleague as well to ensure that we're creating pathways to education. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know my colleague asked about this, but I will say it again. I will ask this question as well.
The department used to produce an income assistance annual report. Why is this report not published anymore? Can the Minister commit to making the income assistance annual report publicly available again. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can absolutely commit to doing the annual report with income assistance. And I also just want to reiterate that part of the new program is also doing a performance management plan as well to ensure that we know how the new program is working and that we know how it is serving residents as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
I know, I know, that's okay, I'll never tire.
Mr. Speaker, I want to pick up a question right off of my good colleague from Monfwi who was talking about tracking information. And she brought up a really good point about what type of information is being tracked by the department. And I suspect the Minister may not give every answer but does the Minister and the department track anything useful with respect to ways we get people off of income support and back into the working life? Thank you.
