Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to follow-up on my Member's statement of Wednesday, February 24th about the International Pink Shirt Day. As we heard that day from a number of Members and the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, bullying is a daily experience for many young people across the Northwest Territories and Canada. On February 26th, I received a letter from It Gets Better Yellowknife, an outreach program to support queer and trans youth in Yellowknife, informing me about the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity's Day of Pink, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia and other types of bullying. The Day of Pink, April 13, 2016, continues the work of Pink Shirt Day by promoting active dialogue in communities across Canada between LGBTQ young people and leaders in their communities. Last November the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity approached the mayor of Yellowknife to organize the event, and the mayor reached out to It Gets Better Yellowknife to take on this event. Like the Pink Shirt Day, the Day of Pink has grown into a Canada-wide event in April. Like most things northern, people take on the task and make it better. It Gets Better Yellowknife organization was no different. They developed a plan for a few extra ideas that worked well in Yellowknife and expanded a Day of Pink into Days of Pink, week-long educational and artistic events that promoted conversations throughout Yellowknife.
Mr. Speaker, the Days of Pink are about talking honestly and openly with peers about the bullying and violence that people deal with when expressing their love and their gender. They believe that when talking honestly and openly about these things they're able to educate themselves and fight ignorance in our communities. They address this by asking questions about how they express their gender, what their gender means to different people, how they love, who they love, and how they can stop bullying and violence that people deal with when expressing their love in their gender. I believe that a safe NWT for everybody includes a safe place for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirits, asexual, pansexual, and queer people. Day of Pink is about more than just bullying, it is about examining and discussing the way the NWT can better support the LGBTQ community in our schools, workplaces and communities. It is my understanding that this group is developing a report of recommendations to provide to the political leaders in the NWT to make a better place to live. I look forward to seeing this report and looking forward to seeing how we can implement these recommendations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
