Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are related to the Income Security Program and the shortfalls of client banking in the small communities. I believe that it is the Income Security workers who advise clients to open bank accounts. The onus is now on clients to produce bank statements. Can the Minister advise if the Income Security employees are advising clients to open bank accounts? Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that it is advisable to have a bank account. It is easier to keep track of your money; direct deposits can make their way into that bank account sooner. There is also the option to cut a cheque at the Income Assistance office, so it is not an absolute necessity to have a bank account. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
From what I understand and what I have been approached by, they are required to have a bank account because part of the process to get Income Security is the Income Security employee needs the bank statement. That is what I understand of that program, and that is what is stressing out many of the clients, especially the ones who aren't working. There are some of the seniors who are involved in that, too, and they are not meeting their obligations to pay their rent. That is why I asked that, because I understand that they are being sent away from the Income Security office to go get someone else to help them print those bank statements. That would be my next question to the Minister, is if their employees are required, if they are opening the bank accounts, to assist with inquiring and printing bank statements for the clients.
There have been some staffing issues in Fort Providence, and there hasn't been someone there, permanently, every single day for quite a while. I am happy to announce that, on January 27th, that position was permanently staffed. A lot of those issues that the residents have been facing are going to be cleared up. This person has previous experience as a client service officer, so the client service officer can help clients access their banking information. There is office equipment, phones, faxes, and computers at the office that they can use. There should be no reason that they are being sent away.
That being said, the Member has brought these concerns to me, and so I am going to dig deeper. I can look into this and get back to the Member with more specifics.
It seems like, with the Income Security Program, there is always one problem after another. Since the inception of the program, there are changes here, changes there. The headquarters office doesn't know what the regional or the small community offices are doing. I would really recommend that they have an overall review of the program to make sure we have all our Ts crossed and our Is dotted so that the program is uniform and runs smoothly, as is happening with all the other programs. That is just a comment.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Would the Minister like to respond?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What we have done with Income Security is take a continuous improvement approach. I was a Regular Member for four years, and I am still an MLA. I do get concerns from constituents about Income Assistance, but the vast majority of times, things go off without a hitch; there aren't problems. There are going to be hiccups in any system like this, but we are committed to continuously looking at each case, learning from it, and improving our system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Deh Cho. Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
