Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, income is the leading factor that determines how healthy someone might be. People who have higher becomes are much likelier to be healthier, and people on lower incomes tend to have worse health. It's easy to see how more money would allow someone to buy healthier food or have more recreation opportunities, but what could actually be more important to someone's health is the toll that poverty takes on mental health and relationships. How incredibly stressful it is to have too little to get by and support your family. The stress of insecurity, not knowing whether you'll get the shortterm work contract or the shortterm income assistance you need next month or the month after. That insecurity prevents you from making good plans, and instead you might make shortsighted decisions that are likely to drag you deeper into crippling debt.
Now, our system has been designed to prevent anyone receiving income assistance from accumulating savings, so they can never develop that sense of security.
According to a March 2023 report by Alternatives North, the idea of a basic income guarantee for the NWT is to take away this stress and insecurity. It can allow people to go back to school, retrain for a new job, or start their own business. It can allow others to care for aging or sick loved ones, volunteer in the community, find appropriate housing, recover from stress or trauma, and put healthy food on the table. Now, the GNWT is rolling out major changes to income assistance that will, thankfully, take us more in the direction of guaranteed basic income, particularly for seniors and those with disabilities.
Mr. Speaker, there is disagreement about whether raising income assistance levels and decreasing barriers will actually lead people to take steps like retraining or starting their own business. I've heard concern from my colleagues in this room that too much dependence on government is draining people's motivation, their sense of dignity and confidence to make their own decisions. I believe we need to continue on this path towards guaranteed basic income while also tackling other major things that take away people's sense of security and prevent them from achieving their potential, such as housing availability and better early educational supports. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
