George Nerysoo

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I too feel it is important that this senior management position be located somewhere outside of the city of Yellowknife. I come from a region where language is in dire need of revitalization. The Gwich'in language is one of the hardest languages to learn, and it's the least spoken language within the Northwest Territories, Indigenous language. We're losing our language at a fast pace. Our elders are we're losing our elders at an equally fast pace too so they're taking this language with them. We have a few knowledgeable people, such as our translators back there, that do...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This particular subject or issue of concern is has a great deal to do with myself and the Northwest Territories as a whole. I've seen, witnessed, a lot of clients going out to the southern regions to get treatment, and I applaud them, and I encourage them. Just yesterday coming back from the Mackenzie Delta, I saw one of my constituents on his way to Toronto and I wished him well, and I hope that, you know, he gets the counselling that he wants and deserves. But coming back from a southern institution and coming back into the community where you see all your friends and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister commit to reporting on the outcomes of productive choices that clients take, how many clients on the productive choices move forward to school or finding work? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've made a few statements on income support, and I was shocked to hear that my riding of the Mackenzie Delta has two times higher than the Northwest Territories, which is 7 percent. And in my riding, it's up to 15 percent. My main goal is to try and get these clients off of income support and on to being productive members of their respective communities.

Mr. Speaker, the department used to provide annual reports on income assistance, but these reports are no longer not publicly available anymore. Can the Minister commit to provide income assistance annual reports...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to discuss the issue that income support clients in my riding, the Mackenzie Delta, are two times higher than the rest of the NWT. What is happening in my riding, Mr. Speaker, for so many people to be on income assistance and how is the government responding to this?

The purpose of income support, as stated in the policy manual, is to help people to become independent and selfreliant. Unfortunately, it does not appear that income assistance in the Mackenzie Delta is helping people become independent. What we see is that once people start, they do not...

Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the Minister for the response. This is just really more of a comment. Having the success of these clients that return from the treatment centres is a responsibility of not only the client, him or herself, but also the families. The family requires counselling because they have to adapt to these changes that this individual is trying to make, and also the community. It affects everybody. It affects us all here as MLAs and as Ministers, the Premier, and everybody. It affects all of us. One person that is struggling with alcohol has an impact on all of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister describe the wraparound supports provided to clients on income assistance with respect to productive choices? How is the department helping people make productive choices that will actually improve their independence and selfreliance? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Dempster Highway is relatively maintained on a regular basis when the highway's open and the season is busy. But there are times when the ice crossings are closed and the road seems to be neglected. Can the Minister tell me how they receive updates and inspection reports on the highway at any given time? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the Minister for providing that information. It's good to see that there is projects such as on-the-land-based programs. It'll be good to utilize some of these funds for that. So I will be informing members of my region that there is limited amount of money on a first-come-first-serve basis to help their community residents.

On another note, long term care and continuing care services. In the past in Aklavik, they had the Joe Greenland Centre, which was used very well by the whole region. There was people from Old Crow, people from Fort McPherson, Tsiigehtchic...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just for a little clarification, the spot I was referring is in between Inuvik and Tsiigehtchic.

Can the Minister look at maintaining the highways during closure of the ice crossings for when the ferries are out -- are shut down for the day for rough sections and dust control to avoid traffic? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.