Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. My question is: for every dollar we currently spend providing income assistance, how much do we spend in administration?
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The budgeted amount for the Income Assistance program in 2019-2020 was $32 million. That being said, it's difficult to always estimate exactly how much we'll need, so there have been overruns of about $2 or $3 million every year, so say maybe $35 million would be spent in 2018-2019. Of that, about $6.5 million is for Income Security Program support. The other $27 or $28 million or so goes directly to clients. I'd also like to mention that we also have additional income security programs, such as the Senior Home Heating Subsidy, that also provides some income security. Thank you.
Can I clarify those numbers I just heard? We spent $6.5 million on administration, and then the remainder of the $32 million is actually direct payments to clients? Is that correct?
That's correct. That $32 million is the budgeted amount. It's likely a couple of million dollars higher in actual payments.
By my calculation, we're spending about 20 percent for every dollar we give out on administration. Can the Minister clarify how many different Income Assistance programs there presently are?
There is a distinction between income security programs and Income Assistance programs, and I believe, from earlier conversations with the Member, he wants to know about the Income Assistance program in particular. We have one Income Assistance program, and that program provides financial assistance to residents to assist with their basic and enhanced needs, which include shelter, food, utilities, clothing, childcare, as well as allowances for persons with permanent disabilities, or seniors.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My concern here is that we seem to be spending 20 percent on administration for every dollar we give out, and then we're requiring all of these people to monthly report. Do all of our Income Assistance programs require monthly reporting?
We have the one program, and not all of the clients have to report monthly. If a client has an income that is steady and doesn't change month to month, or year to year, even, they can be put on a payroll system so that reporting can happen every three months, six months, or 12 months, depending on how stable their income is. While most clients have to report monthly on income, a number of clients don't. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
