Debates of March 10, 2009 (day 26)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Tomorrow, March 11th, snowmobilers from Fort McPherson will be skidooing to the headwaters of their traditional territory, the Peel River watershed. The Tetlit Gwich’in Council and Na-Cho Nyak Dun have spent many months planning this snowmobile trip, originally planning to leave Fort McPherson and ending in Mayo. Due to unforeseen circumstances and time shortage, the trip will see that both parties meet halfway between Fort McPherson and Mayo at the headwaters of the Peel River watershed.

The purpose of this trip is to revisit the traditional trails that were once travelled by our ancestors and to teach the youth about the importance of protecting the Peel River watershed from any developments. The greatest opportunity is for the guides and leaders of the community and the youth, to pass down the knowledge and importance of landmarks in regard to sensitive areas to the youth of Mayo and Fort McPherson.

On Monday morning 12 participants left Mayo, Yukon and tomorrow, Wednesday, the Tetlit Gwich’in participants, in particular from the Mackenzie Delta, will start their journey to the headwaters. The Tetlit Gwich’in participants are elders, community leaders, selected youth.

A number of years back, in 1992, leaders from the Gwich’in Tribal Council and members from Fort McPherson made a trip with members from Mayo and the elders that are still alive and able to travel today, tomorrow, I should say, would like to guide the members over the traditional trails and teach the youth the importance of protecting these trails.

During the meetings both parties will express the importance of protecting our lands at the Peel River watershed and bring awareness back to our communities.

I’d like to pass on a big mahsi cho to those who prepared this trip, but, more importantly, to all the participants who will be going on this trip. May you have a safe journey and God bless. See you when you get back.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

MEMBER’S STATEMENT ON

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In a report released in December by UNICEF, Canada ranked last out of 25 affluent countries in our delivery of early childhood education and child care programs. Canada failed to meet nine out of 10 benchmarks, but, most disturbingly, the NWT doesn’t even meet one of the UNICEF benchmarks.

This government has a responsibility to address these unacceptable shortcomings in the NWT as soon as possible. Highlighted last year and still not fully resolved is the lack of stable funding toward daycares. Currently we fund daycares in a convoluted way that assesses them four times a year and delivers funding based on these assessments. Not surprisingly, this means fluctuating and unpredictable funding throughout the year and huge challenges to providing consistent service.

The Social Programs committee recommended last year that ECE take immediate action to ensure that child care operations receive stable and predictable levels of funding regardless of the fluctuations in the attendance of children due to sickness or family emergency. Whatever action the department has taken has not been sufficient as our daycares are still in trouble.

While Aurora College currently provides early childhood education programs, compared to the South these programs do not stack up. We need to review these programs and bring them up to national standards in order to provide the best possible education for our children.

Further to the problem of well-trained early childhood workers is the problem of wages. Because wages in the early child care industry are so low, when people do receive proper training and become qualified, they tend to leave daycares for higher paid positions. A wage subsidy could help to ensure that daycares have qualified people to care for our children in one of the most crucial development stages of their lives.

There has been a lot of talk about the economy lately. Some world leaders are now recognizing that an investment in early childhood education is the best economic stimulus there is. President Obama has acknowledged this; his stimulus package contains large amounts of additional funding for early childhood education. According to the chief public officer in Canada it is estimated that $1 invested in the early years saves $3 to $9 in the future, depending on the health and criminal justice systems, as well as on social assistance.

Let’s invest in our children in a guaranteed way to ensure long-term benefits for our society and by providing for stable and predictable funding, and qualified workers for daycares and early childhood education in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.