Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate this opportunity to reply to the budget address. I want to start off by recognizing that we are in the final year of our term as the 16th Legislative Assembly. We have had some large challenges when we initially got together and started work. We have made some progress on some issues. I want to acknowledge that.
Today I would like to speak to some of my frustrations in lost opportunities and some persistent issues and shortcomings of our budgets. I speak generally of the last four budgets as well as this one and the budget address.
The first one, and I am going to restrict it to two things here today just to try and bring some focus here, is a focus on prevention. I don’t think we have done enough in this regard. It has been brought up from the days of our strategic planning to today. One example is especially the need to fully use our opportunities to support people in the critical first years of life. Numerous studies indicate the opportunities that are available here and how achievements in working with prenatal and post-natal, post-partum children can establish an incredible potential for their development and address, really, many of the broad goals of government. So in particular this example would stress childcare and early childhood development programs, which I know we have done some work on but I think there’s much room to be doing more. Research informs us that meaningful investment here would serve all of our broad goals.
My second example is Health and Social Services where about half of 1 percent of our Health and Social Services department budget is focused on promotion and prevention, and I think it’s recognized that 3 percent is sort of a minimum requirement in that area. This is a problematic department in terms of the huge issues and challenges and costs we face. So I recognize it’s difficult, but it needs attention nevertheless.
The second one is the need to do things in a comprehensive and new way that serves, again, this broad range of goals. I think we’re missing the boat here, Mr. Speaker, as I’ve said repeatedly. We are making some moves in that direction, but there are huge opportunities that remain.
Of course, these two themes are much related to each other. Just by way of developing this a little bit further, everyone needs energy, everyone needs food, and in energy I think of heat and power, transportation. Everyone needs food, everyone needs housing, by way of example. We also need skilled and educated people. We need sound local economies. We need a strong social fabric and strong and healthy families, land and water.
Currently meeting our basic needs is provided by importing goods and services from afar. What are the consequences? Well, the jobs accrue to distant jurisdictions with this approach. Skills are developed by non-residents, courtesy of our support. We export barrels and barrels of money that could be put into local economies and circulate gathering value seven times the denomination. People leave the land and their knowledge is left behind. Local economies suffer and, of course, the relative cost of living increases. The environment suffers as greenhouse gas emissions are increased due to importing from afar and so on, inefficient ways of doing business energy-wise and the social fabric suffers. We lose our cultural roots and become dependent on the system rather than contributing to the system.
So what is this alternative way? What is the new way of doing business that others and myself have spoken for quite often in this House?
First of all, instead of pursuing mega development dreams that will really benefit relatively few people rather than all people, we could choose to focus on developing local resources to meet those basic needs. What does this do for us, this simple theme? It would provide support for developing the skills, knowledge and business opportunities for businesses that meet this approach rather than just broadening business support, support for all these things that meet this approach. It would provide support for education and traditional knowledge of the land retaining this key element in our society, including focus on outdoor education and sports in our school programs. Promotion of healthy activities that recognize the potential of the land to teach, strengthen, heal and connect people with their cultures, spirituality and with each other. Development and implementation of policy and services that requires the engagement of able, unemployed people receiving government services in activities that support the commons, such as the local supply of food, energy and housing. Examples might be for those receiving housing but unable to pay for it, again, able bodied without childcare needs or with childcare needs provided, start demanding some hours of service for the community. For example, in the area of working in a community garden, learning house maintenance skills and contributing that to public housing in their community, providing energy by being trained in how to use wood saws, chainsaws, and go out and cut woods for a distributed energy system in the community. These are practical things that address exactly these sorts of goals and address all of the issues of developing a strong social fabric, local economy, appropriate skills that are gradually built and become more complex as time goes by.
I realize, Mr. Speaker, again, that we have made some progress on some issues and I don’t want to detract about that and detract from that, but I’m focusing on some of the frustrations and opportunities that I see being passed by. Time is passing, in fact, and the challenges are not only continuing, they are looming larger and larger and we need everyone at the table if we want to see ourselves working together. It’s time for a new way forward, doing business that is imminently doable and probably this will be to be expected by the next Assembly, but I would encourage us to bring that focus in this last six months or whatever of our regime as the 16th Assembly.
So, once again, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to reply to the address.
