Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi. When I first got elected in 2007, the Member invited me to his riding in the Sahtu region. We did visit the communities and we listened to the elders and the community members about this particular subject where individuals completing Grade 12 still had to upgrade and I’ve listened carefully. Based on that feedback we’ve done a lot of research across the Northwest Territories. Yes, it’s true that the smaller communities are somewhat disadvantaged compared to larger regional centres. So those are the very reasons why we’re establishing a very heavy workload within the Education Renewal...

That is in the works. I’ve touched on the planning study and also the educational plan. That will give us the data analysis that we need to move forward as part of the capital planning process. There is a capital planning process that every department is entitled to go through that, so we’re doing what we can to push the Trout Lake school as part of the capital planning process. This will give us more ammunition to move that forward as part of the process. Mahsi.

Those are just some of the areas that we did seriously look at, as well, whether it be small business or big business. But at the same time, I did make a statement that most of the organizations pay well beyond $10 an hour and there’s just a small number that’s still paying $10 an hour. So those are areas that we explored. We did our research. We have worked with businesses as well. We had the Chamber of Commerce, both NWT and Yellowknife, so that covers the broad sector of organizations. We want to make sure we cover all areas, which we have done. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to advise Members of this House that starting on June 1, 2015, the minimum wage in the Northwest Territories is going up.

The minimum wage in the NWT will increase from $10 per hour to $12.50 per hour, making it the highest in Canada today. This is the first increase to the minimum wage in the Northwest Territories since 2011.

In 2013 I appointed a Minimum Wage Committee consisting of business, non-governmental organizations and other community representatives, which included the NWT Chamber of Commerce and the Northern Territories Federation of Labour.

This decision to...

Mr. Speaker, as I stated, we must be fair and equitable when we are delivering the Income Security Program. As I stated before, when an individual has an RRSP, it could be a substantial amount, we don’t know the actual number, but we could use, let’s say, a figure of $200,000 to $250,000, for example. If the individual has that compared to other small community members who do not have any of that, we just have to be fair to these individual clientele. Having individuals receiving $1,200 from a small community that does not have anything versus an individual that may have RRSP of the same...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. When we did a comprehensive review back in 2004-06, based on the feedback that we received, we made some drastic changes in 2007. As I stated, there were some changes along the way, as well, with our income security programing in 2011.

We are always open to make changes as necessary, as long as it benefits the community and also the clientele. Those are some of the areas that we’ll continue to push forward within our department of income security programming. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, we have looked at those potential impacts, and the research is telling us that there is minimal impact in those areas.

Again, most of the businesses are paying well beyond $10 an hour. When we did our research, $12 to $15 per hour is the starting point for these businesses. We have talked to a lot of businesses and they have already told us, a lot of them, that they are way beyond $10 per hour. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. As I stated, we did establish a committee that did their research across the Northwest Territories and outside the Northwest Territories with our provincial counterparts. So we did look into those matters as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

As the Member knows, within our GNWT department there are various areas of subsidies that individuals can qualify for, whether it be training on the job or productive choices, those are some of the areas that we have provided over the years. Again, when we talk about income security as a basic needs subsidy programming, those that are in desperate need of subsidizing in a community, we found that over the years and have made some changes in 2007 and 2011 and we will continue to make those changes. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I stated, a RESP or disability insurance, child disability benefits and CBS, they’re all exempt from the child tax benefits through our income security programming. RRSP is considered as funding that could be available.

We have to be fair because we are dealing with public money, and we’re dealing with the communities, 33 communities, and when an individual has a surplus of funding through an RRSP and an individual in small communities do not have any. So, as a department head, Minister responsible for Income Security Program, I have to focus in those areas. It’s public funding...