Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all know spring break's on the doorsteps with some excitement, and people and parents with children with disabilities share the same excitement except they have different types of responsibilities and additional challenges. My questions will be to the Minister of ECE, and they're really built around the concept of accessibility, affordability, mental health, and fairness.
Mr. Speaker, my question specifically now is with many families facing financial pressures, what initiatives can she or her department ensure that our young people who do have disabilities and challenges, you know, often refer to some folks that attend inclusive school programming can have accessibility to low-income opportunities so they can share in the joy and excitement of things like March break? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, certainly if a parent -- a low-income parent is on income assistance, there is an amount that is also considered for children, for dependents of that individual, that they receive to make sure that their basic needs for their family are met. In addition, Mr. Speaker, in the city of Yellowknife, they have the Access for All Pass so that if there are low-income families that are looking to access, for example, the swimming pool, public skates, public transportation, that they can apply for the Access for All Pass to make it easier to gain access to some of these public facilities as well. So that's another institution that also supports low-income families in that sense.
Mr. Speaker, in addition, as far as mental health is concerned, the Member did bring that up, and these services are available through the school. They are not charged for through the school, and so both from a preventative nature but then also through relationships with health and social services to access a clinician. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am certainly glad to hear what she said. Of course, I welcome that type of positive answer, but I would also now lean into the area of we have many people in the working poor bracket that don't meet the low-income threshold, Mr. Speaker. Is there any reason why the Minister can't take an income test off this particular initiative to ensure all children have the right to play and enjoy and grow with the best of their abilities that they can. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, what I've just heard from the Member is to remove income testing from income assistance, and so I am wondering if the Member can clarify. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Clarity, Member from Yellowknife Centre.
No, I didn't refer to income assistance. I am talking about any threshold that's tied to income -- sorry, any program that's tied to income thresholds so all children equally could apply, not just those below the test she provided in her previous answer. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, in my previous answer the only program that I referred to that had income testing associated with it was the income assistance program which is a program that ensures that residents can meet their month-to-month costs of living for their basic needs, and so that program certainly is income tested. And it is the parent that applies for that. The child does not apply for that program. And also, like I said, the mental health programs are available through the school, and there's no income testing on that. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was even able to bring a delegation to the Minister some time ago about making changes to support parents who have to constantly take time off of work, and one parent, in particular, takes one out of five days a week; so in other words, they're losing 20 percent of their income.
Mr. Speaker, what programs can the Minister expand to ensure that parents aren't taking real income out of their family's bottom line and work with the schools to ensure that they have fair and equal coverage for their children to get supports through the schools? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I did have the opportunity to sit down with the Member and a number of parents who were quite candid in taking me through their experiences as parents of youth with disabilities, and it was incredibly helpful to be able to hear from them. I think it also would have been helpful to have had the Minister of health there as well considering that some of their questions did pertain to the health portfolio.
In regards to education, culture and employment, Mr. Speaker, this is where some of that work on the inclusive schooling review comes in. A number of the families that the Member is referring to -- well, some of the families the Member is referring to, did also participate in the inclusive schooling review directly and were able to sit down for quite an extended period of time with the people that were doing the review and the interviews in order to really make sure that it was able to be a back-and-forth conversation, not just an information providing so that everyone in the conversation could really dig into the details. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
