Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister tell us what portion of this expenditure will be offset by revenues? Thank you.

Sorry. I have a question on the next page, page 8.

The Minister is right. The initial amount of money to get this project going did come from the Anti-Poverty Fund. I want to stress again that this is a systemic solution to poverty that is fronted by businesses, not by government. Of course, government provides a lot of supports to people in poverty, but, if businesses could be persuaded of the benefits of paying a living wage, then people wouldn't need those social supports that are provided by the Minister's department. I am wondering if the Minister can see the relevance of investing in the living wage in order to help people get out of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. One of our colleagues is fond of saying that the best form of income assistance is a job, but there are a substantial number of people, 1,700 people in Yellowknife who are working full-time but not earning enough to get themselves out of poverty. My question to the Minister is whether he is aware of the living wage movement and whether it is something he supports? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to report today on efforts to introduce a living wage in Yellowknife. The principle guiding this work is that people who work full time should not be living below the poverty line. Eleven Yellowknife organizations with a total of more than 300 employees have now signed with a pledge to pay their employees the living wage.

First, a little background. In 2015, a northern non-profit commissioned an economist to calculate a living wage for Yellowknife. The calculation was based on a 40-hour work week. It included expenses such as food, shelter, transportation...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So what I understand, then, is this is like a grubstake; it's an advance on the work with the money expected to come in by the end of the season. Is that correct? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I would like some clarity around the costs associated with the marine operations for this calendar year. Is this an item that is brand new to the budget in this year? Thank you.

Mr. Chair, we have a problem, in that we don’t have a hard copy of the bill. The binders are no longer present. Could we be advised of where to find the copy of the bill?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am tabling three documents today. The first is the letter from the Association of Social Workers in Northern Canada to all Members of this House concerning the decision to phase out the social work program at Aurora College; the second is a letter from the Canadian Association of Social Workers to the federal Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour on the same issue; and the third is a news release from the Canadian Association of Social Workers expressing its concern on this topic. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My concern is that putting programs into abeyance is sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy for their extinction, meaning that, if instructors and students know that the program has a finite life, they won't continue on with it. They will move on to something else. Can the Minister assure us that this one year abeyance will in fact only be one year?