Thank you, Mr. Speaker-elect. The rates of domestic violence and family violence here in the Northwest Territories are incredibly high, and I actually think they're underreported. I think there is still a large number of people out there in the Northwest Territories who aren't actually identifying themselves as victims.
We need to do more to prevent it, as a starting point. We need to make more people aware of the issue. We need to get people talking about the issue. We need to get people identifying when they see people who are struggling, and offer them guidance as to where they can go for assistance or support.
We do have a number of programs available here in the Northwest Territories, and I think one great program that we do have is called What Will it Take. It's an education program to help people understand the issue and how pervasive it is throughout our society, and that our statistics, although high, are probably misleading, because it's probably a bigger problem here in the Northwest Territories. We need to push that program out. We need to get that program into every community in the Northwest Territories, into schools and into other meetings, so that people can take the program so they can begin to dialogue and start working towards eliminating the problem. Information on this one is key, and awareness is going to be key.
We also need to work on some of the root causes. We need to help address things like poverty here in the Northwest Territories. We need to make sure that our children are getting educated and that they're entering the workforce and people are working, so that they have some hope and pride in what they're doing and where they are, as opposed to some of the hopelessness that comes with poverty. We need to deal with the root causes.
If and when, you know, individuals do end up in the situation, we also need to make sure that there are supports and mechanisms available to them. We do have the Domestic Violence Court Option. We do have the program for men who are violent, but we also have community counsellors. One of the things that I've noticed over time is not everybody is aware of the programs that we're offering.
We need to actually put together a list of the different programs community by community and what are available for people, whether it's a shelter, whether it's a counsellor, whether it's another program. Once we have that, we'll be able to start seeing where some of our larger problems exists, so that we can actually focus some of our efforts to make sure that there are programs available for individuals who are experiencing this family violence situation.
But first we need to focus on creating awareness and prevention, then we need to continue to enhance the programs and services we have for victims and their support. Thank you, Mr. Speaker-elect.