Kieron Testart

It is good to know the government is paying attention to that project. As the Minister knows, I am a big fan of putting more money into the pockets of Northerners. At this point, is the department considering developing a pilot project for one of our small northern communities? I am thinking about those non-tax-based communities, where people do not have market conditions to support them. We could really make a big difference by raising them to the level that our tax-based communities enjoy. Is the Minister willing to the look into developing a pilot for one of those communities?

Mr. Speaker, I want to begin this session with a subject that has become the topic of conversation across Canada: a guaranteed basic income. Across the political spectrum, the private sector, and dinner tables of northern families, a guaranteed basic income is accepted as the inevitable future for our country. Guaranteed basic income is the best way to address income disparity, eliminate poverty, and prepare our economy for the future. It is time for the Northwest Territories to embrace what is inevitable and start testing guaranteed basic incomes.

Mr. Speaker, a guaranteed basic income is a...

I appreciate where the Minister is coming from, and we want to make evidence-based decisions, but we have that example of what happened in Dauphin, Manitoba. It was an astounding success for projects like this. That was a $17 million project, and the federal government funded 75 per cent of that. It is well within the reach of our government to ask to pilot something like that, and it would be a much smaller scale. Instead of waiting, you know, a couple years until we see what happens in Ontario, why not break some ground on this and move forward? It seems like it is the way of the future.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I talked about realizing the dream of ending poverty in the Northwest Territories through a guaranteed income pilot. These programs are not just about alleviating poverty, but reducing government expense by cutting costly social security programs and rolling the costs back into this program, empowering Northerners and people with a guaranteed income that will allow them to take ownership over their decision-making. Does the Minister responsible for our social security system, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, support guaranteed income...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that. I appreciate that the government provides probably the best support in Canada for students attending university down south. I am going to re-ask that question with just a bit of different language. Rather than send our students to these institutions, can we bring these institutions to the North? Can they establish a campus or a branch here? Has he had those discussions, and is he working toward that goal? Thank you.

Sadly, it sounds like not much has changed. I'm particularly interested in post-secondary academic education. I think the community learning centres do an amazing job, but I'm more focused on the degree granting institutions. I know that the Minister committed to doing a bit of work on this, developing some legislation around it. Can he provide an update on that legislative process and when we're going to be able to grant northern degrees from northern institutions here in the North?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It sounds like the Premier is starting to understand what it's like to be a Regular Member. Often, we raise concerns that are put to study or put to an internal working group when we're not at the tables, so perhaps this will inform his relationship when we're working with the government to find out how to make good decisions for people. My last question, Mr. Speaker, we've cut $5 million out of our public service capacity to address oil and gas development in the Northwest Territories. With what little is left, is that being used to address these issues and to develop...

Well, I appreciate that we've been safe so far, but these problems persist. This is the reason why a ban was put in place by Canada. I'd just like to take a minute to quote from debates in Hansard of February 2, 2013, when the Premier said:

"The Government of the Northwest Territories is focused on managing the business of the territory. It has to be our primary objective not telling the Government of Canada how it should do its business. Further, we aren't the federal opposition. We're governing our own right and we need to concentrate on managing our own affairs. We will continue to work with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize and thank all the Pages for their hard work over this sitting. I would also like to recognize my constituency assistant, Mr. Garett Cochrane. I couldn't do this job without him, and I am very appreciative that he is joining us here today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we rise and report progress. Thank you, Mr. Chair.