Robert Hawkins

So what is the standard? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Income assistance helps families at risk in several ways, and I'm very supportive of this. A civil society, as we all know, tries to collectively help each other in ways that no one is left too far behind. Income assistance does offer immediate assistance in crisis, job loss, illness, and many other reasons to help stabilize the family. This, we all know. And we know, at the same time, it doesn't fix every problem but, again, stability and making sure they're okay is a contributing principal of the program.

Mr. Speaker, but the backstop is exactly what is - a backstop of...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I wouldn't want to prescribe the whole industry of either lawyers or accountants, but we all know they're cautious and pessimistic by trade so being optimistic on estimating financials seems to be so counterintuitive to the nature of lawyers and accountants, and I would just find it concerning because if they're not in touch with the issues of what's happening today, in other words, we're not -- you know, diamonds are down, gas is not coming out of the ground, oil's tapping out, people are not working, cost of living is going up, I mean, I just don't know...

Given that I put, you know, say, great faith in the quality of work that probably goes into the budget, and I can't even begin to imagine how much skill and expertise it requires, other than the fact that I, you know, tip my hat to say I believe some very smart and hardworking people bring this together from top to bottom, page to page -- or cover to cover. But what worries me here is it's an estimate knowing that we're -- you know, is that really achievable especially when we're so close to the debt wall at $3.2 million. Does estimates like this that have a lot of variability not have an...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I find it kind of perplexing, and maybe the Minister can clarify if I'm misunderstanding her point, that if she's saying we're not doing anything until someone else does it first, that seems kind of odd especially considering the conversation is very live about nobody wants this carbon tax anymore, the department isn't developing scenarios as to what's next or preparing for it. So I'm trying to get a sense, are they developing any scenarios, or are they choosing to do nothing until someone does it to us? That's really what I'm getting at.

Mr. Speaker, the -- you know, kudos to the paying for the full capital budget but keep in mind that, Mr. Speaker, that only works when you don't have the ability to borrow money anymore. So in other words, you can only spend the money you have. So the finance Minister's made it clear we have no more room on our borrowing.

So, Mr. Speaker, I guess I'm really getting at, at the end of the day here, my question is what is the Minister doing from a public discussion point of view about tabling ideas, how we can rework governments better and find more efficient ways to attract both a better...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Similarly, I want to say, and independently -- I want to stress that as well. I've come to similar conclusions that I'm worried about the overall foundation we're building. First of all, we didn't -- Members at large weren't involved in the edict issued over a year ago saying this is how we're going to control and manage our finances, and now we hear how close we are to our debt wall. It sends a weird message back to we have spending freezes, but it doesn't sound like we have the authorities to follow through on them. They're just suggestions. It's not that I don't...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we heard in the House, I believe yesterday, that the Minister said that if the sup passes and the budget passes, we will be $3.2 million away from our debt wall if I heard her correctly and, of course, that is if I have my math correct. Mr. Speaker, that actually puts us at 99.8 percent of our overall debt limit. I'm asking the Minister of Finance: what is she doing to find new ways to operate budget -- sorry, operate the fiscal management of the Assembly and the territory at large that we can find ways to save money immediately such as let people work from...

Thank you. I'm sure we're going to find a middle here. And, again, I credit the competencies of the department so I have every belief that they'll provide responsible, useable information, and I want them to know I -- the next question is that -- what does the person do to action their claim?

So back to I know a few circumstances -- I don't need to go through every scenario but, you know, people are owed a lot of money for a lot of months. They call, nothing happens, and all of a sudden, you know -- yeah, like, why do we need political intervention for what should be an internal problem? And...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister capturing the whole ECE budget, and I'm not sure there was a page left unspoken about. My question was nowhere near about any of -- most of that. I wouldn't say all of it, but I will say most of it. My question is really about the income support program specifically targeting to help individuals get through the system. They are data entry folks, not social workers. I've used the generic phrase navigator. Perhaps that's my fault, and I acknowledge that. Essentially I'm trying to say is what type of support does the income assistance offices, the...