Kevin O'Reilly

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...

With that, Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the rules of the Legislative Assembly be amended to clearly state the right to use any official language when speaking in the Assembly; and further, that this right necessarily implies the right to be understood by those Members who do not speak that language; and furthermore, that the rules of the Legislative Assembly be amended to reflect the right of Members to receive interpretation in any official language. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Legislative Assembly makes interpreters available in most official languages when Members are sitting in the Chamber. On March 10, 2020, a Tlicho interpreter was not available due to a last-minute cancellation. The interpreter scheduled but had to cancel for personal reasons. The Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty, rose on a point of privilege. He said the lack of interpretation impeded or prevented him from performing his parliamentary functions as a Member and asked the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings. The Speaker took the matter under advisement and the proceedings...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I do have some remarks to make on this bill. It proposes two sets of changes to the Employment Standards Act: unpaid emergency leave is created, and then there are waivers for group termination advance notice requirements. The Employment Standards Act is a significant legislation that tries to balance workers' rights versus employers' interests. I want to thank the Standing Committee on Social Development for their work. They found a better balance by clarifying the process for employers to seek waivers from group termination notice requirements. They also...

Thanks, Mr. Chair, and thanks for that. There're a few options there. I think I've got a few other options that the Minister should consider, as well, like a resource tax or a production-based royalty. If we turn over to ITI, of course, further into the budget, and I'm not going to ask questions on that one because I've already exhausted those before, but we do know that this year, we're going to get zero royalties from diamond mining. Next year, I think it's predicted at $1.5 million. We've got to find a way to stabilize these revenues and make them more based on production rather than when...