Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Finance confirm if all evacuees, whether unemployed or not receiving income from employers, be eligible for the income distribution program? Because some of these people, you know, rely on temporary work, which is now not available to them, or they may be selfemployed as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, every individual who's had any sort of income disruption should be applying. So that applies to anyone who is selfemployed, who may be in what is known as the gig economy or temporary employment or, again, any sort of disruptions. So an artisan, for instance, who may be selling typically selling art or crafts, anyone who may fall into those categories, I would encourage them to apply. You know, it's difficult this was a program developed in less than two weeks. It's difficult to anticipate exactly every category of person to whom it would apply and exactly how to word the eligibility. We've done our best to be fairly flexible. So, again, Mr. Speaker, if they've had an income disruption, I'd encourage them to apply. There may be some classes of persons who work it through and find that it doesn't apply to them, but I'd rather have those applications in and look at those opportunities and see that we can make this available to those for whom it was meant to apply. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate that reply because in talking to some KFN members, they were under the impression they could not apply. So that's good to know.
Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit her department to quickly reviewing the applications as they are received? They are one page, so I don't think there will be too much difficulty in doing that. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, yes, absolutely. I certainly wanted to vocalize that commitment here. Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago, we didn't have any staff assigned to this role. This wasn't something that we were contemplating. So while I am certainly cognizant that the people who were evacuated who are now having to go back after an extended period of time, they are the ones who are experiencing the greatest hardship. You know, again, we know that, but two weeks ago we didn't have anyone who was in the position of having to take these applications in. That said, Mr. Speaker, I can't say enough that I extend my gratitude to the MLAs from these ridings who were affected. They are bringing suggestions already about how to improve the process, how to improve the forms, and that will only assist in the time it takes to process the applications. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, now the question is where is the money? Or show me the money. Will the Minister commit her staff to getting the evacuee income disruption support payments out as quickly as possible to applicants? And one thing that they've been asking for is to provide a telephone number on the application so applicants can actually call and talk to a real live person about the status of their application and payment. I constantly get emails and calls about that, and I haven't been able to answer them. So please give me a phone number so that I can give them and one where somebody actually answers. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, just days ago the Member from the affected region came and said why don't we ask for banking information right upfront on the page; it'll save an extra step when someone is deemed eligible. We have already made that change, Mr. Speaker. The new forms are now already on the website so things can change quickly. This issue of the need of having a contact point was raised today, and I can already assure the Member if he hasn't directly received a response from me, it's probably only because I've been in the House. So he will have that information before he goes back to Hay River to be able to share with residents. I don't have a number here in front of me that I can read in the House, Mr. Speaker, but that information will be available. And if we need to change those forms again, we can change the forms again. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And hopefully maybe I can get that number by break time.
Will the Minister confirm what programs are available to selfemployed persons or companies to help offset loss of revenue while evacuation orders in place? Because there was a number of companies and businesses in Hay River that haven't been operating for a couple of weeks and then to get started up again, it takes you another few days as they get employees back. And, you know, the owners, you know, more than likely whether they're paying themselves or not, I don't know, but I know that they've lost revenue. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when it comes to well, again, if there's a loss of revenue that's impacting an owner's personal income, you know, again I'd suggest they consider applying and we'll consider whether or not they can be eligible, at least under the income disruption stream. More generally, I realize that doesn't necessarily help the viability and strength of a business. So, you know, ITI does have the they have their own programs under SEED, entrepreneur support programs, operational support programs. Those were used for businesses that were affected by the floods last year. It's applicationbased. Again, please, I would suggest people to, please, early earlier than not, reach out to ITI. Our South Slave regional office is available to support businesses that may have been impacted. And, Mr. Speaker, one last plug here is that the United Way also is playing a role here and we're looking at ways to help support them as they play that role. They can put money into nonprofit organizations, charitable organizations, in the affected regions. So it may be a matter of looking at what some people's expenses may be and they may be able to then work with local charities to see if there can be supports found that way. But, again, Mr. Speaker, I know the GNWT did support the United Way and, of course, the residents across the Northwest Territories continue to support the United Way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
