Thank you, Mr. Speaker. March is Nutrition Month and according to the statement made by the Health and Social Services Minister last week, this government believes it’s adequately addressing healthy eating programs by providing support, as she put it. The Minister named a few programs which provide that support. Programs which are fine in and of themselves, but they hardly represent a coordinated targeted approach to improving healthy eating amongst our youngest children or to the significant issue of the need for prevention and early intervention amongst the same group of children.
In this budget year of 2010-2011, Members were very smart and allocated $400,000 to a nutrition and healthy eating program, a program that was delivered by Food First Foundation through our education system. What could be simpler? Minimal administrative cost because the distribution system is already in place and a contractor with a proven success in this program area. But as we heard during the 2011-12 budget review, this funding was a one-time shot never to be seen again it seems.
That is truly disturbing, Mr. Speaker. There have been many positive comments about Food First from educators in schools all across the Territory. They’ve seen the huge benefit of the program run by the Food First Foundation. Yet without any real evaluation of the pros and cons of this program, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment scrapped it without any replacement program. To quote one Yellowknife teacher: If they’re thinking of the kids, this is not a good program for them to cut.
The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, during budget review, said “I’m sure we provide funding through various programming to the schools to deliver things such as the breakfast program and other programs.” But is it enough funding? Are the programs addressing a demonstrated need? Is the funding available to child care and day home programs? Is it a coordinated approach across all departments? Is the focus on early intervention and prevention? The questions are many; the answers are few and far between.
Mr. Speaker, it’s well documented that the most formative years of our lives are the ones from birth to six or seven years of age, yet this government consistently applies piecemeal band-aid funding to this cohort of NWT residents. Four hundred thousand dollars is a drop in the bucket for this government’s budget, while the benefit to be gained from a $400,000 nutrition program is a tsunami.
Education, Culture and Employment must reconsider their decision to sunset the $400,000 and reinstate funding for a nutrition program in the 2011-12 budget.
I will have questions for the Minister of Education later on. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
