Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement earlier today with questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. The 58 percent failure rate on case files in income security with a $15 million annual budget is horrifying. In over half the files, we don’t know if public money was properly accounted for. So we’re failing in our basic duty to get the best use of funds and put them where they are most needed, but we are also failing in our intent to reduce the potential for human suffering.
Part of the department response to the report says ECE had not finalized its audit tool at the time of the audit but that it would be completed by January 2013. What’s the status of the new audit tool? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. First of all I’d just like to thank the office of the Auditor General for doing the overall review of the income security. As you know, income security, the framework itself is quite large. It’s a very complex file. At the same time, the nine recommendations that came to our attention as some of the areas where we knew would need some improvement. So we are working towards that.
As I stated before, we are developing an action plan to deal with all of the recommendations brought forward, and one of them is the tool that the Member is referring to. We’re going to be compiling all of the information and have an action plan with target dates. Some will take some time, but all in all we will be presenting to standing committee in April. Mahsi.
Thank you. I’m going to skip the second question, because the Minister jumped me on that one and he’s answered that, and go back to the first one. There is an audit tool that was to be completed, according to the Minister’s response, by January 2013. What is the status of the new audit tool? Mahsi.
Mahsi. There is development of an audit manual for the program auditor. That’s part of the process that we’re going to be developing over time and, again, this will be part of the process. There will be short-term, mid-term and long-term goals and objectives to follow through with the recommendations, and we are taking those recommendations quite seriously and we will be implementing them. Thank you.
Thank you. I can only conclude that the department’s response to the Auditor General that the audit tool would be in place by January 2013 has not been done. So I welcome the Minister to correct me on that, if that’s the case. That would be obviously disappointing.
In my statement I outlined the case of a local social service agency that sends one of a few staff members to accompany clients to appointments if they find out one particular income support worker has been assigned to the application. Based on their experience, they know the applicant is in for a rude and demeaning experience. So complaints have been made about this to the Minister. How is it possible that such a notorious situation could persist and what steps will the Minister take to investigate this complaint and finally correct the situation? Mahsi.
Mahsi. As I stated, this is part of the whole complex issue that we’re dealing with. The recommendations that are brought to our attention, we will cover those areas and we will be developing an action plan to deal with each and every recommendation that is brought forward. Again, we’re taking those recommendations quite seriously. Those are the complex issues that came to our attention.
Again, the files that we deal with are very generic and they’re very complex across the Northwest Territories. I appreciate that the Auditor General came down, provided guidance and provided direction for us to improve our programming. That’s what we’re doing. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve dealt with a constituent on an issue with the Minister’s office, where paperwork was repeatedly lost, bills, proof of income and the like. Meanwhile, a woman seriously disabled by a tragic accident was left without food, piling up debt and shivering in the cold, literally. So, again, how is this possible, and what does it take, and where is the dignity in this? Can the Minister answer that question? Mahsi.
Mahsi. We do take those case by case and quite seriously. If there are, whether it be missing documentation and so forth, we need to follow through with that. My client service officers through our department work closely with the clientele. There are some challenges that we’re faced with.
As you know, income support is a very challenging file. Every day our client service officers are challenged. I’d just like to encourage them to continue working with the clientele even though they may be frustrated. At the same time, we have to provide those supports to the clientele and we provide those positive engagements continually. So I did instruct my senior staff to provide those words of encouragement to my client service officers so they can provide those valuable services continuously. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
