Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think my statement kind of clearly states my concerns around the cost of living for seniors, and I understand that the solutions I seek may cross several departments. I will start with one, Mr. Speaker, on my questions. That will be for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I know we've had this conversation before in this House around the thresholds for income, and I guess what I am looking for, Mr. Speaker, is recognition that there is an issue here and recognition that there are different circumstances for not only the territory but to individuals themselves. So I'd like to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment whether her department is willing to, again, look at the income thresholds for these programs that are offered to seniors. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Member for raising this. Certainly, we want to make sure that we are staying on top of where our cost of living is going in the territory and in that process definitely looking out for our most vulnerable residents when we're talking about children here today, we're talking about elders and seniors, and we want to make sure that we are constantly reviewing trends as far as fuel prices and cost of living. So this is something that the department does continuously to make sure that we are doing our best to understand the pressure that is on residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I think I can read a sentence that sums it up here, and it's that no senior should be penalized for having a modest pension, for stepping forward to care for children and family members when that support is needed most.
Mr. Speaker, my question is, when we look at our policies, when we look at these income thresholds, do we or is there an appetite to look also -- not only yes, we understand the income portion of it based on the economic realities and based on cost of living, but the cultural aspect of it as well, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. You know, recognizing what the Member has said in regards to, yes, there's economics to it, but there is also understanding that regardless of if a senior is living with multiple generations of family members for example, that does not have an impact on consideration of a senior's income in deciding if they qualify or not. So if a senior is living with people that are part of their family or out of their family, only the senior's income is recognized in determining if they qualify or not for the program. So certainly not looking to control or have an impact on who people live with because recognizing that we all need support, especially we need to make sure that seniors have support as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you. And I understand that, but I think the point I was making, not that there's going to be other income in the household considered for the subsidy but the fact that typically there's not, typically there's one. And if that senior is actually in that home caring for members of their family for various and whatever reasons -- that's other issues I know we deal with. But if they have care of their grandkids, their children that they also have to provide for, then there should be a cultural aspect taken into that when looking at these programs and whether or not these seniors qualify for it.
My final question -- and I am going to hopefully at round 2 get some more, and maybe I will ask the questions of the Minister of housing as well.
But, like, our income thresholds are all over the place, across different departments, across different programs. And has there ever been a consideration to look why don't we have one? Why don't we look at least -- and it may be one for different regions and different scenarios, but one income for every program rather than $80,000 for home heating and whatever it is for home repair and so on and so forth. Is that something that this Minister could advocate for and possibly take to her counterparts to look at evening the board across for these. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I think that some of the work that has definitely been done on both sides of this House this term is how can we, you know, reduce some of these administrative impacts on residents of the territory. I appreciate the Member bringing forward another instance of potentially red tape in the government and so certainly happy to commit to the Member to discuss this with my Cabinet colleagues and see if there are things that I don't know about that would be, you know, a reason for this, but certainly want to make sure if there is room for us to have unity across government programs that we are taking the opportunity to do that. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
