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Tuesday July 28 2015 11 HEALTH WELLNESS CHILD CARE INTERIOR HEAVY EQUIPMENT Operator School www.IHESCHOOL.com Call Now 1-866-399-3853 Housing Transportation Packages Available NO SIMULATORS JOB ASSISTANCE FOR LIFE NEVER SHARE MACHINES START ANY MONDAY GET TRAINED. GET WORKING. By MEAGAN WOHLBERG TheInuvialuitRegionalCorp.IRCsignedits agreement-in-principleAIPwithCanadaand theNorthwestTerritorieslastTuesdaybringing it one step closer to realizing self-government. The deal outlines how the Inuvialuit will administer services currently provided by the governments of the NWT and Canada and serves as the foundation for the negotiation of a final self-government agreement. Those new responsibilities address items like language and culture health and social services education economic development justice and taxation. Today marks an important step in ensur- ing that government programs and services provided to the Inuvialuit are designed and delivered in a manner that fully respects and accommodates Inuvialuit culture lifestyle and traditions said IRC chair and CEO Nel- lie Cournoyea. Theself-governmentAgreement-in-Principle signifiestheintentandgoodfaithofallparties tonegotiateandworktowardsafinalagreement for the sharing of governance powers between the federal and territorial governments and the Inuvialuit. Today we are pleased to recog- nize and celebrate this important milestone. TheAIPwassignedTuesdayafternoonatIn- gamo Hall in Inuvik by Cournoyea along with MarkStrahlparliamentarysecretarytofederal AboriginalAffairsMinisterBernardValcourt and NWT Premier Bob McLeod. ItsanothermajormilestonefortheAborigi- nal government which was the first to final- ize a comprehensive land claim agreement in the NWT. The Inuvialuit Final Agreement also known as the Western Arctic Claim was signed in June 1984. Decisions by Northerners for Northerners have been a priority for the government and Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Terri- tories for years McLeod said. Since the days oftheCommitteeforOriginalPeoplesEntitle- mentandthenegotiationoftheInuvialuitFinal AgreementtheInuvialuithavebeenleadersin striving towards that goal. Thesigningofthisself-governmentAgree- ment-in-Principle is another important step for Inuvialuit and I am honoured to share this milestone with them he said. Inuvialuit one step closer to self-government POLITICS ABORIGINAL By MEAGAN WOHLBERG Residents receiving increased Universal Child Care Benefit UCCB payments from the federal government wont have to claim that money as income under the NWT Income Assistance program Premier Bob McLeod said last week. The federal government announced last Monday that it will be expanding the UCCB to include a new benefit for children aged six through 17 and increasing the benefit amount for children under the age of six to be paid retroactively starting Jan. 1 2015. The increase will give families 160 per month for each child under six up from 100 and 60 per month for every child between six and 17. The UCCB is expected to be doled out over the next several weeks to those who have registered. But while the increase in UCCB is wel- come McLeod said the NWT government needs to be flexible in ensuring it helps out the families that need it most. There are implications for Northwest Ter- ritories residents currently on income assis- tance he said on Friday. Without a change in approach these retroactive UCCB pay- ments would reduce the amount of income assistance clients will receive from the In- come Assistance program as the UCCB is considered income. The GNWT introduced a 1200 unearned income exemption for its Income Assistance program in September 2007 in order to allow GNWT exempts new child benefit from NWT income clients to keep some of their income from sources like GST tax credits income tax re- funds and gifts. McLeod said the new UCCB payments will be included in the exemption in order to en- surefamiliesaccessingIncomeAssistancewill benefit from the UCCB payment in the same way as other NWT residents with children. Helping our residents live strong and in- dependent lives is one of the goals of the 17th Assembly. To do that we must be prepared to be innovative and flexible with our programs and services McLeod said. Benefit receives mixed reaction The announcement of new funding for families with children has received a mixed reaction from Canadians. While some see more money as an obvious benefit to households many are calling it a blatant attempt at vote buying and say much more needs to be done to alleviate poverty and support families. Karri Munn-Venn a policy analyst at Cit- izens for Public Justice said money sent to families does not change the fact that most families cannot access childcare in Canada. Currently there are only enough regu- lated childcare spaces in Canada for 20 per cent of young children though 70 per cent of the mothers of these children work she wrote last week. This small deposit doesnt offset lost income for those parents who stay at home nor does it come close to meaning- fully supplementing childcare costs which begin at 900month for full-time care for one child. The new UCCB is a taxable benefit which will result in an estimated 340 million in taxes clawed back to the federal government. Previouslyfamiliesweregivenanannualchild tax credit of over 300 per child. Under the new benefit families will receive 1900 an- nually for kids under six or 720 per year for kids aged six to 17 regardless of their income. The original UCCB has diverted signifi- cant resources away from low-income fami- lies to upper-income families and the recent changes accentuate this redistribution fur- ther Munn-Venn said. She recommends a national anti-poverty plan that includes universal childcare and additional supports for low-income families starting with increasing the National Child Benefit up to 5600. Significant funding for both of these family policies could be made available by redirecting resources currently provided to income sup- port programs that do not sufficiently benefit low-income families with children including the Universal Child Care Benefit she said. PhotoMeaganWohlberg NWT Premier Bob McLeod assured residents last week that the new Universal Child Care Benefit will not count as income for those receiving Income Assistance in the NWT. Inuvialuit Regional Corp. chair and CEO Neillie Cournoyea PhotoWikipediaCommons