Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services and follow up on my Member’s statement. I looked at the Minister’s statement on Nutrition Month and I see a real focus of programs on obesity. Poor nutrition during the youngest years for people, though, is a likely reason for nutrition-related issues like obesity in older children and adults. Yet the Minister’s statement offers no programs that actually put nutritious food in the mouths of our youngest citizens. Why is that?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member knows that it’s the Department of Education, Culture and Employment that has programming for providing support for food in schools. Education, Culture and Employment has extensive school nutrition programs.
I’m certainly aware of a number of programs that have been dropped from our programs. This House is on repeated record calling for providing nutritious food or subsidizing milk for our youngest people that are not receiving a nutritious diet. What has the Minister done either within the Department of Health and Social Services or in concert with her ECE colleague to serve the will of the House on these directions?
A large part of the work that we do in the Department of Health and Social Services is health promotion. Our staff is out there promoting healthy eating habits, dangers of child obesity, just eating healthy and not abusing things that are harmful to us. The pre-natal and post-natal health; there is so much work we do. In the past the government has reduced the power rates in the communities and that really helps with the cost of food in our smallest communities. As well, we have increased food mail programs. Not food mail, food basket. I think it’s important that we understand that there are many departments that are involved in the issue that the Member is raising.
There was a brief program for a school nutrition coordinator to serve three school boards, funded under the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative. Is this program still running or has this gone the way of other programs and, as the dodo bird, is extinct?
I would need to look into that specifically, but I am aware, in visiting a lot of schools in our communities, that they do serve these programs and we have lots of food programs in the communities. The information from Education, Culture and Employment is that under NWT funded programs we have spent almost $600,000 and that under federally funded, with resources managed by GNWT programs, we have provided funding to almost every region to help with Healthy Food for Learning, Drop the Pop, Health Promotion Fund, Together for Healthy Living, Breakfast for Learning. There are lots of programs that Education, Culture and Employment provides, as well as Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Almost all of which seem to be ending or dropping out of our routine programs. We need responsible parents who provide their children with proper nutrition and breakfast before school, but for those children with parents who cannot meet this responsibility, for whatever reason, does the Minister agree that we should just let the children suffer the consequences or, indeed, should we work on both fronts and work with both parents and children until that capacity can be achieved?
Of course not. I could tell you that under NWT funded programs, under Healthy Food for Learning Education, Culture and Employment provides: $94,685 for Beaufort-Delta; $6,867 for Commission Scolaire; $50,488 for Deh Cho; $49,000 for Tlicho; $44,000 for Sahtu; $64,000 for South Slave; $23,989 for YCS; $45,000 for YK1. That’s just one column. I could provide the Member with the list. While we speak about the need to do things, I think we should be careful about just sweeping generalizations, saying that in a very kind of very mean way, I must say.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
