Wendy Bisaro

Thanks to the Minister, but I have to frown on what I heard the Minister say, that it’s okay to penalize people for good planning. It’s okay to tell people that you’ve managed to save, you’ve got this money, use it up before we give you any money to help you out, especially when somebody has been successful and they’ve encountered a bit of a rough patch. They don’t need a lot of money, they need some money, but let’s make them destitute and then the government will look after them.

I would like to ask the Minister, he mentioned that there are some changes that are coming. I would like to know...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and I want to follow up on my statement about income support policies and the impact that they have on those of our residents who apply for income support.

I’d like, first of all, to ask the Minister if he could please explain to me and explain to the House and explain to residents the rationale for the policy, which says that a Registered Retirement Savings Plan must be cashed in before a resident can access any income support. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister. Thank you for correcting me. Yes, I meant surety bond, so thank you for understanding what I meant.

I guess my concern is whether or not the department has looked at situations where a surety bond has had to be used. I appreciate that the reasoning that it frees the company up for capital as opposed to having a letter of credit, which is cash.

Can the Minister, if he has not or the department has not, look into previous situations or situations that exist anywhere in the world where a surety bond has had to be called on and how effective it was...

Thanks to the Minister. The Minister’s statement stated: “Security provides additional protection to ensure that there are funds to address environmental liabilities if proponents fail to take remedial action.” That’s definitely a statement that I can agree with and I’m very glad that that’s in there. I do have a bit of a difficulty in that if the amount is set by the board and yet the government is supposed to do the monitoring and enforcement, if the number is not enough for remediation, there’s a bit of a gap in there.

I’d like to ask the Minister how the assessments are made. He says that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a Page, Diana Rockwell. I recognized her yesterday, but she pulled a fast one on us and wasn’t here, so I would like to recognize her for her work for the past couple weeks. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m very pleased to rise in support of this motion and to be able to speak to the motion that’s before us today.

Although Members on this side of the House and committee have heard considerable support from our constituents and from the general public in support of the establishment of an ombudsman office, there are, unfortunately, still naysayers when it comes to establishing that office in the NWT. I think it’s because many people do not understand how the office can be a good force for government, that it can promote accountability in administration and improve...

Thanks to the Minister. The Minister also mentioned in his statement that we are working on short- and long-term policy development concerning the government’s management of securities. I would hope that the manner in which assessments are done would be part of that consideration. Certainly the other day there was quite a consideration of the difference, or the statement that we are using security bonds as opposed to irrevocable letter of credit.

I’d like to ask the Minister, and he may not be able to give me this answer today, but I would like to know from the Minister what the difference is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Lands. I’d like to follow up on his statement about establishment of the liabilities and financial assurances division.

Some questions have been asked already by other Members about security for development in the NWT. I’d like to ask the Minister first, in general, does the department have an approach, do they have a policy in regard to the value of security that is required for development? Is the security required equal to the value of the remediation or is it a percentage of the value of remediation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Each year the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, CCSA, joins organizations across the country in observing National Addictions Awareness Week. Organized by CCSA, National Addictions Awareness Week highlights issues and solutions to help address alcohol and other drug-related harm. It provides an opportunity for Canadians to learn more about drug prevention, to talk about treatment and recovery, and to bring forward solutions for change.

In 2014, National Addictions Awareness Week will be held November 17th to the 21st, a little over a week from now. CCSA will also mark...

Thanks to the Minister for that. It points out one of the problems that we have with homelessness and our government is that it crosses over departments, and I kind of thought with a homelessness coordinator that he/she would be responsible for all aspects of it, but perhaps not. So I appreciate the Minister looking into it for me.

The next point I wanted to bring up has to do with a resolution from the NWT Association of Communities 2014 annual general meeting. They passed a resolution there on homelessness and I want to read the operative clause: “Now therefore be it resolved that the GNWT...