Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Certainly, that was one of the issues that committee did consider. Committee was of the view that we always want to have in-person, paper ballots available for future elections. Certainly, for elders, seniors, that is what people are used to, and we don't want to take that opportunity away. There is nothing in this recommendation that requires electronic voting, but if there is electronic voting, we need to make sure that we have some clear guidance on how that will be done in the future. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to surprise my friends on the other side and indicate that I intend to support this bill. Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. The idea behind this motion is that we do need to have a policy moving forward that better recognizes and incorporates the use of all of the official languages in the way that we conduct our work and business here in the Assembly. There are a number of suggestions in the report itself, and I am not going to go over those, but it does involve things like making sure that we have backup interpreters on call and that there is basically a plan, step-wise, for improvement of the use of official languages across all of the work that we do here at the Legislative Assembly. I think...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I wish to table the following two documents, a letter dated February 9, 2021, from the YWCA to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment regarding a request for change in garnishee interpretation; and a letter dated March 8, 2021, from the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment to the YWCA on the same topic. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends, should a situation arise in the future where interpretation is not available for a language being spoken in the Assembly, that the Speaker give strong consideration to a recess in or adjournment of proceedings until such a time as adequate interpretation can be provided. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that, and of course, I'm going to be asking him the same question in May/June. That's a quick heads-up. Look, I'm convinced that we will be punishing Income Assistance recipients who were supposed to have no deductions as a result of CERB payments, who now have to pay it back through garnishees to tax refunds. I think that's just a result of a harsh interpretation of the regulations. Will the Minister exercise some discretion and stop a garnishee on tax refunds as being considered unearned income or change the regulations now to...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Just very quickly: we do a lot of committee work behind the scenes here, and we take bills on the road and so on. Certainly, it was a practice in the last Assembly and I expect it's going to be the practice in this Assembly that whenever we go outside of Yellowknife, particularly to the smaller communities, we make it clear that anyone who wants to speak to committee can use any of the official languages. The one-week notice that we suggested here is just to make sure that we are prepared and can offer that service when we go outside of Yellowknife and even in Yellowknife...

I want to thank the Minister for confirming that. Yes, the Minister said that Income Assistance clients can use their annual "unearned income exemption of up to $1,200 to offset the penalty for the garnishee." While this may be true, most people are required to pay back CERB through tax-refund garnishees, and they probably owe a lot more than $1,200. This exemption was meant to offset the occasional gift from family or friends. Will the Minister be lenient in his interpretation of the words "tax refund" in the Income Assistance regulations and not claw back garnishees from tax refunds for CERB...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the rules of the Legislative Assembly be amended to clearly state that documents in any official language may be tabled in the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. It's tax time again. That's especially important for recipients of Income Assistance, who are required to file tax returns in order to remain eligible. Case officers keep an eye on what tax refunds their clients might be getting. Refunds are considered "unearned income" and the amount of a refund is deducted from the client's monthly amount of income support, even if part of the refund is used to pay off other tax debts. There is an especially cruel twist to this year, thanks to COVID and the federal Canada Emergency Response Benefit, or CERB. When CERB was...