Robert Villeneuve

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister for his response. Talking about costs of the program; Income Support beneficiaries and Income Support dollars have been going out to the recipients and beneficiaries and clients in the Tu Nedhe region. Actually, from 1999 to 2003 it has gone up by $50,000, Mr. Speaker. I don't think the program is designed to spend more money for income support, as the Minister has stated. Since 1999, there has been a lot of economic development in the Tu Nedhe region and in the surrounding regions in the NWT, and it seems like there's more Income...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this summer, July 13, 2004, I was privileged to hold a meeting in Deninu Kue with the Deninu Kue First Nations, the Metis Nation, the public and six Members of our Cabinet. I wanted to thank Premier Joe Handley, Ministers Bell, Miltenberger, McLeod, Dent and Krutko, for taking the time to visit and discuss many of the issues with the community leadership and the public.

Community leadership was very appreciative of this and looks forward to following up on some of the concerns brought forward. The public is also looking forward to having Minister Miltenberger...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to get the Minister’s thoughts on the possibility of writing off these outstanding debts that many members of the NWT have to date.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the Minister for consideration on that point, anyway. The reason I’m questioning it is that due to the fact that a lot of the large debts in the $30,000 to $50,000 range, the nature of the debt is listed as unaccounted contributions. I think it would be prudent of this government to let the public know that the associations the government is dealing with in trying to recover some of the debts and who is actually running these organizations and whose direction it is that is resulting in the accounting responsibilities of the organization. I think it would help...

My question is to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, the Honourable Michael McLeod. The youth centre in Deninu Kue has been on blocks and boarded up for the past year-and-a-half.

What steps has the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs taken to address this issue?

How is the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs assisting the Deninu Kue Community Council to make this youth centre a reality?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad to hear that the Minister is looking forward to making some changes in the program. I just wanted to ask the Minister about some of the client information that trickles down to the grassroots level from the policies that are in the Income Support program. A lot of the income support officers in the communities don't have the information available to them to present to clients to make a lot of productive choices. They don't have information on human resource capacity building programs with the federal government; therefore, they can't pass them on to the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up on some of the issues that honourable Member Bill Braden has been raising with the Income Support program. I believe the Minister was talking about the program itself. I think that the program, the low income and the Income Support program today has to start focusing on what people need instead of what the government currently has to offer.

Just to follow up on the point I was making in yesterday's session, Mr. Speaker, about the option where the households all get to lose their eligibility for income support, when one member of the household...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on the Income Support program in relation to persons with permanent disabilities. Mr. Speaker, as you are well aware, persons with permanent disabilities receive an enhanced benefit through the Income Support program for their permanent disability. I just wanted to ask the Minister if he and his department have taken into consideration any available option of creating a program that is separate from an alternative to the Income Support program for people with permanent handicaps in the NWT...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this summer, I was blessed with the opportunity to attend a spiritual gathering east of Reliance on Great Slave Lake near the mouth of the Lockhart River, along with many other constituents of Tu Nedhe. Also, we were lucky to have a visit by our Premier during this spiritual gathering. The spiritual significance of this river is not only very important to the spiritual well-being of the residents of Tu Nedhe, but it also allows residents of Tu Nedhe and surrounding areas to come together to share oral history and prayer along with many evenings of laughter...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just on that last point. It’s good that the Minister stated that our program offers a little bit more monetary value to the clients, I guess, but basically there is no assurance that clients are going to receive this disability benefit every month based on the regulations and policies set out in the Income Support program. In the Alberta model, it’s assured income. Regardless of other family members' incomes, it states that if you are severely handicapped…