Tim Caisse wants to know why the GNWT continues to clawback his Impact Benefit Agreement payment. - Erin Fletcher/NNSL photo

And he wants to know by the time the next IBA payment is made this spring.

In 2001 Caisse -- a 32-year veteran of the mining industry who is presently on long-term disability -- and his wife, Helen, a Treaty 11 member who is also on social assistance, received a $500 Impact Benefit Agreement payout from BHP.

IBA payments are a private settlement between diamond mines and aboriginal groups. The money is given to the groups annually as compensation for loss of land use.

Each year the membership decides how to spend the payment. In the past the 3,300 Treaty 11 members have used the confidential amount for scholarships, addictions strategies and individual payouts, said Treaty 11 executive director Violet Camsell-Blondin.

Caisse said before he and his wife received the individual BHP IBA payment in spring 2001, the government deducted it from their social assistance cheque, putting he and his wife in a difficult financial situation.

After much hounding, Caisse said he and others like him got the money back from the government.

He thought the clawbacks had stopped.

But early last year the Diavik IBA came through and again the payment was deducted from the social assistance check before the IBA payment was received.

Caisse said he had no prior notification about the deduction and didn't know when the Diavik cheque would come from the band.

"For three weeks we were starving because the (Diavik) cheque hadn't come in," said Caisse, adding the remaining $365 didn't stretch well to cover bills, rent and food for himself, his wife and her 77-year-old father.

"Three weeks is a long damn time and the cupboards were bare."

Fighting for aboriginal rights

North Slave MLA Leon Lafferty said Caisse is not alone.

Lafferty has been fighting for the removal of what he dubs "IBA clawbacks" since it started about four years ago. He said the government is not willing to do anything about it.

"It's important because IBA agreements are for the loss of the use of the land," he said, adding developers have to negotiate the agreement before a permit is issued.

"Clawbacks started after the first diamond was taken out of the ground."

While people with good jobs can keep the payment, those who need the most are being penalized, said Lafferty.

"It's not really fair to the people who need it."

Camsell-Blondin said the payments are especially important for families living on the fringe. An IBA payment could mean a new bed for a single mother or a bicycle for a child who would otherwise go without.

She said when the government takes the payment away from social assistance recipients, "industry is essentially subsidizing government."

"The government has no business taking the money we negotiate."

Like any other income earned while on social assistance, the IBA deduction is standard, said Education, Culture and Employment assistant deputy minister Lesley Allen. She said IBA payments, classified as "unearned income" on the claim, have never been exempt from deduction.

"When you come asking for income assistance it means you've used all your resources and need some assistance," she said. "We look at the need for the month and make sure the need is covered."

But the policy is under review, said Education, Culture and Employment Minister Jake Ootes.

"We've been looking at some of the alternatives to a deduction and we're in the process of doing that now and we're waiting for a final review of that from the department. Once I get that then I can take it forward from there," said Ootes, adding the review should be finished within six weeks.

The review will consider the implications, alternatives and the approach in changing the present policy.

Once the review is complete it will got through a consultation process with cabinet and a decision will be made.

Until then it is policy as usual -- IBA payments will continue to be taken off of social assistance cheques.

Allen said social assistance recipients meet with an income support worker every month. The worker often knows when the IBAs are due or the client tells them so the government knows when to deduct the income.

"Income assistance clients are very responsible and do report when they get IBA payments," she said, adding the IBA policy has been in place since the agreements started.

"Income support clients know their income support payment will be less."