Julie Green

Yes, did the Housing Corporation look at any other ways to try to make up that difference? It is a considerable sum of money, almost half of what is allocated for this year. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Sure, I will take the Minister up on that. If he would like to give an overview of how that money is distributed and what those positions are about, it would be useful. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to follow up the last response I was given by Mr. Martin. I asked him for a breakdown of the $3.6 million that would be spent under the new housing bilateral agreement in the next fiscal year, and I understood part of his answer was that there would be an expenditure of $1.5 million on modernization and improvements. On page 373, the budget actually shows a decrease of $751,000 in spending, so maybe he can tell me why those numbers are not adding up. Are they not referring to the same thing? Thank you.

Thank you, and so there is an increase in spending on the homelessness shelters forecasted for the next fiscal year. Can you tell me what that money is going to pay for? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Minister and I share the same goal of assisting parents to help their children grow up with everything that they need in terms of food, accommodation, and so on, so that the poverty cycle is broken, especially by people who are working full-time. My final question here, and likely for the same answer, I realize, is whether the NWT child benefit could be indexed to inflation. The federal government recently took that step with the Canada child benefit, and it means, of course, that the benefit retains its value. That is an important feature, so can the Minister also look...

I appreciate the Minister's willingness to find that information. I hope she will be able to answer the next question, which is whether the thresholds can be changed, and what effort would it take to change them and raise them?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The social justice organization Alternatives North just released its updated calculation of the living wage required by families in Yellowknife, and, for the first time, there are calculations of the living wage for Hay River and Inuvik, as well.

The living wage is calculated using a national framework to ensure results are consistent among jurisdictions and over time. The calculation is for the most common family type, two parents working full-time, one child in childcare full-time, and one in elementary school.

Mr. Speaker, the principle of the living wage is that, if you...

I appreciate the Minister trying to answer that question, as well. I also wonder, as well as adjusting the threshold, whether the child benefit thresholds could be sensitive by region to higher-cost-of-living situations and lower-cost-of-living situations? Would it be possible to target the thresholds in that way, by region?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, and they concern the living wage, and particularly the NWT Child Benefit. What we know from the most recent calculation, which was the same as 2017, is that this reference family of two adults and two children would not qualify for the NWT Child Benefit. My first question for the Minister is: how was the threshold for the NWT Child Benefit set? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thought this was the federal money. I didn't realize it was the JK money. I appreciate the Minister clarifying that this is, in fact, the pot of money for junior kindergarten. From which level of government does it come? I thought it came from the territorial government. Thank you.