Statements in Debates

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 42)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate my colleagues as well for this extra second. What would it take to bring it down to a -- say, a two-week standard as opposed to a 30-day standard? Again, recognizing that some of this is a lot of money, is there a way to practically do that just because of how much money can be outstanding for some people given -- well, I don't have to go at length, Mr. Chairman. That's only my question is, what would it take for the department to do that? Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 42)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, again, perhaps it's a bad question in the sense of I'm not focusing in enough because what I'm finding is the income support workers -- at least we agree that they're not social workers. But, you know, it's not a system that encourages in a manner of making it part of the program to get them to seek counselling, get them to go to job fairs, get them to show productive choices. It's literally show up, drop your paperwork, and then you qualify. I'm saying let's turn that around by making it part of the income support or income assistance program that they must be...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 42)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First I'll say I appreciate what sounds like an offer. I would say no, I don't want every detail, I want ranges, and I will leave it up to the competent people in Finance who can come up with some reasonable dates for ranges. I don't want every day as in this -- ten people waited one day, 200 people waited three days; that's a lot of work. But I would like to see, we'll call it responsible responses, and I'll leave it up to the department to say -- define days and define numbers. So that's two different separate pieces of information so I can look at it that way. So I...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 42)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I noted in my Member's statement today about the income support program and how it provides the basic programs support and it does just very that, like exactly that, the basics. But I also cited concerns about the fact that it's not designed to empower individuals to not only stabilize but to get ahead and get back on their feet and back being productive members in their own way, whatever that's defined as, as productive members back into society.

Mr. Speaker, what can the Minister do to help change that attitude, perspective, and I'd say modus operandi, of...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 42)

I would hope that there would be an offer somewhere to provide me the most current stats. I would ask that first question.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 42)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Has there been any movement or indication that something's actually going to be done on that property; and if so, can the Minister update the House? Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 42)

So what is the standard? Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 42)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Income assistance helps families at risk in several ways, and I'm very supportive of this. A civil society, as we all know, tries to collectively help each other in ways that no one is left too far behind. Income assistance does offer immediate assistance in crisis, job loss, illness, and many other reasons to help stabilize the family. This, we all know. And we know, at the same time, it doesn't fix every problem but, again, stability and making sure they're okay is a contributing principal of the program.

Mr. Speaker, but the backstop is exactly what is - a backstop of...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 42)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I wouldn't want to prescribe the whole industry of either lawyers or accountants, but we all know they're cautious and pessimistic by trade so being optimistic on estimating financials seems to be so counterintuitive to the nature of lawyers and accountants, and I would just find it concerning because if they're not in touch with the issues of what's happening today, in other words, we're not -- you know, diamonds are down, gas is not coming out of the ground, oil's tapping out, people are not working, cost of living is going up, I mean, I just don't know...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 42)

Given that I put, you know, say, great faith in the quality of work that probably goes into the budget, and I can't even begin to imagine how much skill and expertise it requires, other than the fact that I, you know, tip my hat to say I believe some very smart and hardworking people bring this together from top to bottom, page to page -- or cover to cover. But what worries me here is it's an estimate knowing that we're -- you know, is that really achievable especially when we're so close to the debt wall at $3.2 million. Does estimates like this that have a lot of variability not have an...