Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that Elections NWT implement and administer an election rebate program as laid out in the report for candidates starting with the 2023 territorial election. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. This arises from a recommendation from the Chief Electoral Officer. After the vote is finished and the vote count starts, this is really about who should be there to witness the counting of the ballots. The Chief Electoral Officer raised a couple of issues in her report and in discussion with us that, sometimes, candidates don't have anybody at a poll when the count is being conducted. It is up to the Chief Electoral Officer or the Returning Officer to go and find a couple of electors to witness it. It puts them in a difficult position. They have to choose somebody, maybe...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I, too, want to extend a lot of thanks to my colleagues on this side of the House for the work that we did together looking at the main estimates. People often just don't know how much work goes on behind the scenes here. We don't really do a very good job explaining this, but we met and reviewed the main estimates department by department with Ministers and their staff over a period of a couple of weeks. Then we had to work together as regular MLAs to figure out what we thought was missing or could be improved in the budget. There is an immense amount of work that goes on...

Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Speaker and Board of Management develop a rights-based official languages policy for the Legislative Assembly and that the policy come into effect prior to the end of this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Responsibilities established in the mandate letter of the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs include "the development and maintenance of community governments... with sufficient legal authority and resources to carry out community responsibilities." Can the Minister state which NWT communities have been placed under supervision during the past five years and:

When and where MACA or other Government of the Northwest Territories staff have been seconded or assigned to community governments...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Legislative Assembly increase efforts to provide interpretation into regionally appropriate official languages when standing and special committees hold public meetings in communities outside of the capital. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the Minister for that compassionate response. It's great to point to the federal government and try to get compassion from them. I'm talking to the Minister on the floor here; he needs to demonstrate and lead with some compassion from our government. This perverse practice of deducting garnishees from tax refunds from Income Assistance is going to lead to excessive hardships for many NWT residents who received CERB payments. Can the Minister tell us whether this situation is being tracked and what percentage of total Income Assistance recipients are suffering from this...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that simultaneous interpretation of committee proceedings into any official language should be made available to Members or witnesses appearing before committee, with a one-week notice; and further, that the availability of this service should be communicated clearly with Members and any witnesses. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, who administers Income Assistance. First, I would like the Minister to confirm that it is this government's position that a garnishee of a tax refund is counted as unearned income and is deducted from Income Assistance payments to that client. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Just very briefly, it is hard to believe that Members have the right to use any official language in the House as a result of the Official Languages Act but it is not actually recognized or incorporated into our rules. This will make sure that the rules reflect the law. It is an important motion, and I expect that everybody is going to vote in favour of this. Thanks, Mr. Chair.