R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we have a number of income support programs. I believe the Member is referencing our income assistance program, which is a specific income support program. The purpose of that program is to provide residents with enough funds to be able to procure the necessities of life. It's not the type of program where people can save money or earn you know, earn a living doing that. It is to help people who are at the point where they can no longer, you know, keep a roof over their head, have food in their fridge, things like that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member has identified a number of things that are issues. He speaks about data collection, the availability of data. He talks about the ability to audit education bodies. These are all things that we are proposing to change by amending the Education Act. So the Member has great suggestions, and I'm definitely open to them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I request a recorded vote.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I don't think anyone in here well, I know no one in here pays their CA less than $25 an hour. We know that from the previous motion. And I think people in here understand that if you want a good CA, you have to pay them. You know, that's the market across the Northwest Territories, across Canada right now. If you want good people, you have to pay them. That's why I voted against the last recommendation. I'm voting against this one because we're getting to the point now where the Assembly is really controlling how I run my constituency office. And I think that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, I don't have that I have it in my hands but I can't flip through this document and find that information at the moment. I'm sorry, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories saved zero dollars due to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, CERB. We exempted that. So if you were collecting income assistance and you received CERB, we did not count that against your income. When the Canada Recovery Benefits, CRB, came out, that was counted as income. Notices were sent to income assistance clients. There was an advertising campaign. We let MLAs know that that was the case. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The productive choice productive choices are something that are in the legislation, the income assistance regulations. Individuals who are collecting income assistance are required to participate in a productive choice unless they are seniors or persons with disabilities I believe.

The productive choices, there's a variety of them. But currently everyone is enrolled in the wellness productive choice which we instituted at the beginning of the pandemic where people were required to take care of themselves and their families. And so that is what people are currently...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I just wanted to take this opportunity to clarify. I've never claimed to be a lawyer. I've never said that all students go to university. What I said is in Hansard yesterday and I apologize if I appeared as though I was showboating. I will say I was getting a little frustrated but I never intend to showboat. I think about an elder I spoke with in your constituency, Mr. Speaker, when I was there, and they were talking about how they watch the Legislative Assembly and they appreciate the level of decorum in here, and I always try to maintain that. So I apologize to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And there have been concerns about the classrooms being too hot in the late spring/early summer. As a result, Infrastructure has installed portable air conditioners. There isn't a plan to connect the portable building to the main air handling unit but we do have the portable air conditioners in place. And I will say that, you know, this issue brought to light the fact there needs to be a little better communication. So I've reached out or I've had conversations with the president of the CSFTNO, the French language school board, and I've had conversations with the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also received dozens and dozens of emails from students, staff, parents, perhaps other people in the community who were concerned about this issue, and I appreciate those emails because it brought it to my attention.

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment became aware of this issue just prior to the flooding in Hay River, and that was really the first time that we knew about it.

So the issue that we've learned, in consultation with the Department of Infrastructure, is that there have been ongoing sewage backup issues. This goes back to the original issue...