SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - NWT Senator Nick Sibbeston is "out of touch" if he thinks Northern communities enjoy a "good or better" standard of living than people in Yellowknife, says Stephanie Poole of the Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation.

Franklin Charlie, a homeless man in Inuvik, sits on his bed under a building in town. NWT Senator Nick Sibbeston said poverty and homelessness aren't as big of a problem in NWT communities outside of Yellowknife. - NNSL file photo

Sibbeston told News/North Friday, people in NWT communities have "all that they need to live - a comfortable home and lots of food, fish (and) wild game.

"I would say there is no poverty in Jean Marie River, there's no poverty in Nahanni Butte or in Trout Lake because people have everything. They have a house. They have food. They live in a very relaxed surrounding and they're not stressed out with mortgages and work demands," the senator said.

"Their standard and quality of life is as good or better than anybody else."

In a statement to the Senate Wednesday, the former premier of the NWT commented on an anti-poverty workshop held in Yellowknife earlier this month where Poole spoke about poverty in her community. The workshop was organized by the Yellowknife YWCA and Alternative North.

"It is only in recent years that I have realized how many Northerners are impacted by poverty and homelessness, particularly in the bigger centres in the North, like Yellowknife," he told the Senate.

Poole said if Sibbeston believes poverty is mainly limited to urban centres, he needs to spend more time in Northern communities. She also questioned where the supposed abundance of wild game is hiding.

"Have you found the caribou?" she asked with a laugh. "Because if you have, I'd like to know where they are.

"Here in town, we have no caribou meat and we're suffering because of it."

She said people are also suffering from homelessness there too, despite Sibbeston's claim that "(in a) community like Rae or even Dettah, there is less poverty than Yellowknife because there's nobody sleeping on the streets."

Poole said it's too cold in the winter for people to be sleeping outdoors, so instead they're piling into their relatives' already overcrowded homes.

"You have all of these adult children that are still living with parents. They're homeless," she said.

Dettah Chief Ed Sangris said it's clear Sibbeston hasn't been to Dettah where 10 people are forced to live in a three-bedroom home because they can't afford rent.

"It's obvious that he's sitting in his Ottawa office thinking everybody is well-off."

Sangris said although the mining industry exists within Dettah's traditional land, that doesn't mean everyone in the community has a job or an income.

According to 2009 unemployment numbers provided by the NWT Bureau of Statistics, 28.2 per cent of the population over 15 years old is unemployed in Dettah.

In Lutsel K'e it's 27.8 per cent, and in Jean Marie River, Nahanni Butte and Trout Lake, it's more than 18 per cent.

In the NWT, 14.3 per cent of families are also considered "low income" ­ the national average is 12.4 per cent, according to 2008 income figures from the NWT Bureau of Statistics.

"Income earners, at the end of the day, when everything is deducted, are below the poverty line," said Sangris. "Just because everybody's working, doesn't mean everybody's well-off. There's some struggle (living) pay cheque to pay cheque."

This isn't the first time Sibbeston has made controversial comments about social issues in the North.

Last year he said more money needs to be put into economic development and in order to do that, money needs to be taken away from social programs.

"I'm advocating less money for social programs because over the years there has been a lot of money put into these programs and many social workers and people in that field don't produce a great deal and we need to examine that and put that money into economic development," he said in November 2009.

The next month, the NDP sent out a press release pointing out Sibbeston's travel expenses, which were the highest of any of the Canadian senators.

In the 2008-09 fiscal year, aside from his $132,300 base salary, he spent $190,172 on travel and $139,770 on office expenses.