Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today I presented the Premier with a belated Christmas present, one that I had been safekeeping for him. In December of last year, in the absence of any Members of the Executive Council, I accepted a present from a group of people, people representing social organizations in Yellowknife and the NWT as a whole. This informal alliance of 14 organizations had come to the Legislative Assembly to give the Legislative Assembly a Christmas present, a gift of past reports which detail the causes and effects of poverty in the NWT, and they asked for only one present in return. To quote the group: “All we want for Christmas is an end to poverty.” That present for the alliance -- an end to poverty -- is one that this government needs to start work on.
There’s no doubt that poverty is the root of all kinds of social ills. The effects of poverty are evident in our schools, in the overloading of our health care system and so on. If the NWT government turns its mind and its considerable power to a coordinated attack on poverty in our Territory, the results will be positive both from a fiscal point of view and for the well-being of our people.
In trying to determine if we had a poverty strategy or a policy with the GNWT, I discovered an income security report from 2007 titled “Breaking Down the Barriers to Poverty: Promoting Self-Reliance.” From the Minister’s message in that report comes the following quote: “Self-reliance is the key to the success of our Territory.”
This paper outlines a new philosophy in the vision we have for breaking down the barriers to self-reliance and eliminating poverty in the Northwest Territories. The Minister goes on to say poverty is difficult to escape. As this paper lays out, it’s not just an issue of money. In order to eliminate poverty, our governments, agencies and communities will need to work together to align the supports and services needed by individuals to succeed. This work will take some time, but the philosophy outlined in this paper and the changes to our system that will follow represent an important step for our government, but one that we believe is worth taking.
But now, in 2010, I don’t believe we’re any closer to eradicating poverty than we were three years ago. The changes referred to by Minister Dent have not taken place. I don’t believe that the coordination of departments and agencies and services has taken place. Our people are no more self-reliant than they were in 2007. It’s time for us -- and by that I mean the government, non-government organizations, local governments and NWT residents -- to take a serious look at how poverty impacts our Territory, our government and our people.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted.
We need to take a serious look at how poverty impacts our Territory, our government and our people. It’s time for us to take some real action. Minister Dent was correct in one thing in 2007: our governments, agencies and communities need to work together. And as my colleague Mr. Jacobson likes to say, let’s get ‘er done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
