Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I talked about the wonderful achievements of the Northern Youth Abroad Program. In some respects it provides an eye-opening experience for the youth of the Northwest Territories.
My question is for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. How has MACA supported the Northern Youth Abroad Program over the past 15 years?
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We recognize that investment in our youth is in an investment in our future, and to that end I think, with the support of the Legislative Assembly, we’ve contributed much funds to the young people in the Northwest Territories and given them an opportunity to broaden their horizons. The Northern Youth Abroad is a classic example of that.
Over the last two or three years, we’ve had 63 young people go through the program; I think 49 in the Canadian phase and about 14 in the international phase. We contributed, through our Youth Core Program, $100,000 to Northern Youth Abroad. As well, ECE makes a contribution to that as well. Thank you.
Thank you. I think it’s very commendable for the department and this government for providing financial support for the Northern Youth Abroad. How else has the Department of MACA supported the Northern Youth Abroad Program? Mahsi.
Thank you. The Northern Youth Abroad Program, as these young people are ambassadors for the Northwest Territories, we see many of these young people moving into our Youth Ambassador Program, which is a great program that’s also funded by MACA. So it gives them a really good experience, and we continue to do what we can to support them financially so they have an opportunity to see the rest of the country, as well as the rest of the world. Thank you.
Thank you. What is MACA doing to ensure all recreation leaders and youth centres in the North have information about the Northern Youth Abroad Program? Mahsi.
We have youth workers in all the regions in the Northwest Territories and part of their duties would be to try and keep the communities updated as much as possible on the programs that are available to the youth as well. We have a website and there’s an excellent youth website that they can go on to see what programs are available to the youth.
The department does a really good job on trying to get as much information out there so we can access applications from all over the Northwest Territories, and I think we’re starting to see an indication that youth out there are being reached because we are getting applications from every region in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The success of the program is clearly evident. Would the Minister be willing to do further work with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment to ensure that the Northern Youth Abroad is promoted in schools across the NWT, especially in the small, isolated communities? Mahsi.
Thank you. In this day and age of electronic communication, I think that it’s a lot easier to reach all those across the Northwest Territories. Pretty well everyone is on the computer and has access to the Internet, but I will work with my colleague, the Minister of Education, and our own youth workers to ensure that we get all this information out to all the schools across the Northwest Territories so youth out there have an opportunity to access our programs. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
