Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my Member's statement's on income assistance clawbacks. Today I rise and bring attention to the clawbacks on income assistance in my riding. Over the last weeks, I have received concerns that income assistance recipients that are penalized because of the federal benefits that were received during the COVID pandemic. These benefits include the Canada Recovery Caregiver Benefit, CRBC, Canada Recovery Benefit. Mr. Speaker, many Nunakput residents are in need of these benefits and now it's they're being clawed back. They're being penalized. They claimed these benefits, most of the residents had to call an automated number to punch in their information, then the federal government gave direct deposits right into the people's account. But the automatic deposit did not often give a printout to the benefits. Recipients had nothing to give for income assistance officers so now the people are getting their T4s, and the GNWT is penalizing people and cutting them off for 60 days at a time. I have a mother of four in Tuk being cut off for two months that has no job, and that's unacceptable. I can't imagine the hardship that dependent on income assistance that we give payments to take away payments for two months that the GNWT is pushing people into poverty. It's unacceptable. There are families having trouble putting food on the table, having to ask their siblings for help, they're falling behind on their rent, they're being forced out to living daily essential items like toilet paper, other care products, diapers for kids. It's a shameful situation. Our residents shouldn't have to make these kinds of choices. The federal government says that they're not responsible for what the GNWT does. The GNWT says that the people should have declared their income sooner. But like I said earlier, many recipients never got a printout of the benefit. I hope the Minister hears me when I say he should not penalize people today for administrative problems from two years ago. The Minister might say ECE is following regulations but has a cruel effect on most vulnerable people. We're taking our and we're talking about our elders, disabled people, low income people, illiterate people, people who don't understand why the federal benefits for two years ago are being applied against their income assistance.
Mr. Speaker, I'm asking the Minister to look into this issue for positive solutions. This case is a bad benefits administration should not punish residents in my riding and people across the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.
