Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's no accident that we haven't had a mid-term review in this Assembly since the 12th Assembly, since before division. It has been really a lot of work to come up with a set of principles and a process to conduct this mid-term review. I want to emphasize that, with Mr. Sebert's help, we canvassed thoroughly the different options and tools that we could use to produce a mid-term review that was fair and equitable, and I have confidence in the report that we produced, that we were able to hit that mark.

That doesn't mean to say that, once the review takes...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, on Wednesday, October 26, 2016, I will move the following motion.

Now therefore, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, that the Department of Education, Culture, and Employment produce a plan to implement junior kindergarten in 20172018, along with a fully costed budget for presentation to the Standing Committee on Social Development;

and further, that the department implement all the recommendations of the junior kindergarten review tabled in February;

and furthermore, that, in developing an implementation plan...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to table these e-mails and I will pursue my concerns in greater detail at another time. But my last question in this string is to ask the Minister what his department has done proactively to explain the changes to people who receive income assistance about their allowances. Not about the child benefit, the Canada child benefit, but about the change in the income assistance allowances.

To say again, this is an e-mail exchange where the Minister has signed the e-mails and the resident has signed the e-mails, and he expresses his concern about the reduction of food and clothing allowances within the Income Assistance Regulations. Could the Minister please clarify that, in fact, he has heard concerns about the changes that have been made?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's my pleasure to introduce Jacq Brasseur, she's the driving force behind the new Rainbow Youth Centre in Yellowknife.

Thank you to you, Minister, for that response. In the response to the motion the government writes: "The GNWT has made affordable, adequate and suitable housing one of its highest priorities, spending approximately 8 per cent of its budget on social and affordable housing compared to a national average of 1 per cent." Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me whether she thinks that's an adequate amount of spending for the condition and availability of housing in the territory?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am looking forward to the Minister sharing that information with us. Those are all my questions.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. In the public gallery today is my constituent Josee Clermont. Madame Clermont is the directrice generale of college nordique here in Yellowknife and I welcome her and all our guests to the Assembly today. I'd also like to recognize Steve Budgell, my friend and neighbour who is in the fourth year of the nursing program at Aurora College. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Minister read out a number of figures for the renovations being completed in Fort McPherson, Tuktoyaktuk, and on the K’atlodeeche First Nation, and so based on those figures, it seems that millions of dollars will be required to make the necessary improvements. Where is that money going to come from? That's my question for the Minister, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today I offer my congratulations to everyone who operates a small business in the NWT during this Small Business Week. Last year in Yellowknife the city licensed 146 new businesses, most of them small businesses, and it's clear that small business is a major driver in our economy, creating jobs, spending and tax revenue.

Mr. Speaker, I have some insight into the effort involved in developing an idea for a small business into a money-making proposition. I was self-employed before I was elected, but the experience I want to reflect on today is the development of our family...