Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to speak on the Anti-Poverty Strategy in the Northwest Territories.
Some people believe that the state of poverty is a self-induced state; however, there are more examples that it’s a dependency on government systems. The Anti-Poverty Strategy would have the government look at the current system and to get people off the dependency. The strategy would have all departments work together to solve these difficult problems for the people of the Northwest Territories. Poverty includes those people that are working in the Northwest Territories. Our high cost of living has us living in crowded areas and living in minimal accommodations, living with minimal food and basic needs.
I believe that most people are looking for a hand up, not a hand out. We need to bring everyone’s income levels up, and decrease the gap between the highest income earners and the lowest income earners. I think that we need to work on more jobs in the small communities. I understand that jobs are not all the solution to poverty; however, it is one aspect.
We need to help people with their unemployment rates in the small communities. In some of the smaller communities in the Northwest Territories there’s more people not working than working. We need to work on this situation.
My colleagues and I believe that we need to help solve poverty in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The Member for the Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
