Tom Beaulieu

Can the Minister advise if the NWT Housing Corporation would look at a different way of determining Core Need Income Threshold? I can’t see how they could capture all community-assisted expenses if they’re using the Core Need Income Threshold handed down from the federal government.

Can the Minister advise if at some point the corporation would look at having all expenses to determine that core need income be community-specific?

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I talked about an issue that hits home with many single mothers and fathers: the Core Need Income Threshold and the issue of being eligible for public housing. Today I have questions for the Minister Responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. I’d like to ask the Minister: how often is a thorough review of the Core Need Income Threshold completed by the NWT Housing Corporation?

[English translation not provided.]

Today I would like to talk about a situation that puts single parents at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing public housing.

Many of our constituents are single parents with young children, who are trying their best to earn a living and provide for their children. Unfortunately, many of these single-income earners are struggling to make ends meet. Some have families and friends to assist them, but many rely solely on government assistance.

One such program is the social housing program at the NWT Housing Corporation. Under the current policies individuals...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to get some more information on the….

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

During my last constituency visit to Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e many residents were concerned about the lack of industrial arts, home economics and physical education teachers in their school. Aspiring trade students may not pursue journeyman status without getting some experience in those trades. These days with the robust diamond and mining industry, the importance of exposing junior and senior high school students to trades cannot be overemphasized — particularly increasing their employment opportunities, as I mentioned a couple...

I would like to see if the Minister could provide this request, to myself or to the committee in writing, for how they count their headquarters and regional positions. I don’t believe that everybody in all of the departments is reporting regional and headquarter positions in the same manner. This, I think, downloads a lot of headquarter positions into the regions that are actually headquarter functions. There are headquarters positions in other communities. That’s fairly well understood. But every opportunity that the government gets to report them as a regional position, it seems to happen.

I...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The same line of questioning on this from me, as I am still not clear on how the positions, the PYs, are being reported. I just want clarification on why there are only nine positions in headquarters Yellowknife, and 136 positions in the region, and also 69 positions in the Fort Smith region. I am trying to determine if the department is counting these positions by where the individual is located or if it is a question of function.

Okay. The total reduction in this area has been $433,000 just in these last three motions. The department had indicated to us that that was offset by the federal government. I’m only seeing an offset of $170,000. To me, it still seems like a fairly substantial cut, so I’m going in favour of the motion.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, too, am strongly in favour of the funding staying in the department for this function.

In the little bit of interaction we’ve had with the Elders’ Justice Committee in Fort Resolution, it was positive for the whole community. They’re playing a positive role. It would be good to see the money remain there. Although I’m not sure that it’s exactly affecting that particular group, I’m sure it will be affecting other groups across the North.

The elders still talk about attending court and seeing first-hand and having a role in how justice is dealt with in a community. I think...

My understanding of reporting PYs is that it is supposed to be by function. I am just trying to determine if all of government reports PYs the same way, or if some departments choose to report PYs in different manners. My understanding is that the North Slave region just happens to be where the location of the corrections facilty is. Also, the Fort Smith region happens to be the location of the other corrections facility, which is based in Hay River. But that is not exclusively responsible for working in the South Slave region or the Forth Smith region only. The North Slave Correctional Centre...