Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Chair. May I take that as a commitment that the Minister will undertake that examination? Thank you.

Thank you. Could the Minister please outline, then, the program that will be undertaken by the John Howard Society? Is it the one that he most recently discussed with us, which is basically a group counselling program? Thank you.

Thank you. Do I understand that the John Howard Society will require the same qualifications of counsellors as in the original RFP? Thank you.

No.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I will have a number of questions for the Minister about this new contracting relationship based on the fact that this is a non-profit organization that has not been a service provider of this kind in the past, and so I will have questions that relate to the qualifications of this service provider to provide the A New Day program.

I am also interested in finding out whether there have been changes to the RFP that was put out earlier and what those changes might be. I will also have some questions about attracting clients who are not offenders to the program. Of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am going to re-ask that question because I did not hear an answer. We have a federal engagement strategy. It talks about infrastructure. Housing is infrastructure. I am wondering if we are going to see some of the issues raised in the poverty consultation in the federal engagement strategy. Thank you.

As I mentioned in my statement, we need federal help in two priority areas: food and housing. I am wondering how the GNWT is planning to leverage Ottawa's interest in reducing high rates of poverty in the NWT by making changes to programs such as lobbying for changes to Nutrition North and the CMHC declining funding?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

The committee held public meetings in Yellowknife, Inuvik, and Hay River, advertising these through newspaper, radio, and social media, and held its public clause-by-clause review in Yellowknife on May 25, 2017. Both Yellowknife meetings were also streamed live through the Legislative Assembly's Facebook page, receiving more than 1,000 views together. We have also received 237 written submissions and completed a media scan, and have published related correspondence with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. These are available on the committee's web page on the...

If the Minister could share that information, that would be very useful to us. In the meantime, I am wondering what it will take to get these issues introduced into the federal engagement strategy along with roads.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister responsible for Poverty Reduction. The GNWT has had a poverty reduction strategy for the last four years, and now Ottawa is creating a national strategy. What is the GNWT doing proactively to align these two? Thank you.