Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on April 10, 1990, I made a motion in the House regarding a reduction in person years of 2.5 per cent in 1990-91 and 2.5 per cent in 1991-92. The motion was passed and since that time, Mr. Speaker, this would have been accomplished with attrition and distribution of job responsibilities and there would be no lay-offs.
In the standing committee's motion on mission statement, it does say something on behalf of the public in all areas related to financial management and the proposed expenditure of funds; and to hold government accountable for all the spending. They also have some principles; that government spending and financial management must respond first to the fundamental human needs; it must be guided by the strategic framework and be based on sound financial policies; it must ensure equity, fairness and universality of benefit to all residents of the Northwest Territories; and, it must be effective, efficient and economical. This was made back in October, 1993.
Mr. Speaker, my budget address is with this statement in mind. While I applaud some of the efforts this government has made to decentralize its operations and give the communities an opportunity to look after their own programs and concerns, I am nonetheless dismayed, Mr. Speaker, that the bureaucracy of the territorial government continues to increase in size and scope.
As I have mentioned earlier, the government has made some efforts to decentralize, to share the wealth amongst all residents of the Northwest Territories, but they have not gone far enough. Decentralization, while I admit it is a good concept, in my opinion, it has only benefitted taxed-based communities in the west and the larger communities in Nunavut.
I have not seen any positions put into the smaller communities such as my home town of Fort Providence. These are the communities that really need the jobs. In addition, Mr. Speaker, in this rush to decentralize, I believe this government has lost sight of the economy of scale. For example, Mr. Speaker, sending children from Fort Providence and Kakisa to Fort Simpson for high school, in addition to being a further distance for the children to travel and also for the parents to visit, is quite simply expensive for all those concerned.
An example, Mr. Speaker, is that we have a scheduled air service from Fort Providence to Hay River. We also have a road service, scheduled bus service and the river system, but we don't have those types of services when we send our children to Fort Simpson. I think, when I speak, I have the general support of the town of Hay River with regard to having our children going to school in Hay River.
The people of the Northwest Territories are ready, at the community and band council level, to take the responsibility of many of the territorial programs within their jurisdictions. All they need is a chance and less interference from the government hierarchy.
Mr. Speaker, other than providing jobs at a local level and ensuring that as much of the program money as possible stays in the community, what does the initiative program accomplish? Slowly down the road, there have to be lay-offs in the government. Otherwise, there is nothing more than a duplication of services or in the worst-case scenario, a governmental apparatus larger than the community transfer initiative they are supposed to oversee.
Mr. Speaker, the best example of continued government interference in what is considered to be a local issue is in the area of aboriginal languages. I have said before, Mr. Speaker, you cannot institutionalize culture. The community itself should be responsible for teaching of the local language and culture. Not the schools, as a small part of a larger program.
We have heard and talked a lot, over the last two weeks, Mr. Speaker, about the possible loss of funding from the federal government for our aboriginal language programs. It is an area of major concern to this government. I have not, however, heard any feedback from aboriginal organizations or communities. I wonder, Mr. Speaker, if this lack of concern on the part of the aboriginal organizations has anything to do with the fact that these organizations -- the very organizations that should be at the forefront of language issues in the Northwest Territories -- receive little or no funding from the Government of the Northwest Territories for language programs.
Mr. Speaker, the whole area of pay equity between the highly-paid territorial employees and local public sector employees is one that needs to be addressed also. I appreciate that the Minister is taking steps to deal with this inequity.
Also, Mr. Speaker, the issue of gender equality will have to be dealt with sooner or later at, I believe, a significant cost to this government.
Mr. Speaker, I have stated in the House before that I do not necessarily believe in a balanced budget. This may fly in the face of public approval and even perhaps political correctness. I strongly believe the government and our own Standing Committee on Finance has to take a holistic approach towards financing programs in the territories.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate all the hard work both the Minister of Finance and the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation have done in an effort to have the federal financing for social housing in the Northwest Territories reinstated. As the Minister of Finance stated in his address, we have managed to find some money to fund some social housing in the Northwest Territories. However, Mr. Speaker, I do strongly feel that we, as a government, are not doing enough.
My own observation, Mr. Speaker, is that the allocation of social housing funds continue to benefit tax-based communities at the expense of smaller communities.
The South Slave district, for example, Mr. Speaker, for the 1995-96 unit allocation; Fort Simpson has seven units; Fort Smith has nine units; and, Hay River has 14 units. That was revised in August to six, seven and 13 units, respectively. None of the other communities in the district have more than four units being allocated. Five of the communities are not being allocated any housing in the upcoming years.
With regard to the most recent revised version, Mr. Speaker, again, in the south Slave; Fort Smith's allocation has been increased to 11; Hay River's has gone down to eight; and, Fort Simpson has remained the same. Fort Providence has been reduced by one and Kakisa doesn't get one, except for the one that was transferred from last year. Mr. Speaker, each of the tax-based communities has a housing market.
The other observations I have made is that in the eastern Arctic, most of the allocations are pretty well consistent, even between the largest community, which is Iqaluit, and the smallest communities. However, in the western Arctic, the allocation stands out. I think that should be looked at.
I strongly believe that the Housing Corporation should be looking at housing on a needs-based basis, as opposed to the largest communities getting the bulk of social housing money, simply because of their population.
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I will be following this matter up with the Advisory Committee on Social Housing.
As I mentioned before, I believe we should take a holistic approach to financing. If we invest money in programs such as housing and alcohol and drug counselling now, we, as a government, are making an investment in the future -- as Mr. Ballantyne has stated -- thereby reducing the costs of providing health and social programs to future governments.
Mr. Speaker, in the Minister's address, he raised some good points. I certainly hope he follows through with them. Community consultation on which forest fires to fight was one positive step.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank the government, the Department of Renewable Resources, for the five-year agreement that was signed last year between Evergreen Forestry and the communities of Fort Providence, Kakisa and the Hay River reserve. The methods of firefighting are one area I like to touch on a bit, since most of the firefighting that is done now is based on the working hours of the day, rather than looking at the most convenient time to fight fires.
I believe that most of the fires that were started this year were not from natural causes. I would like to say that a lot could have been caused by human error. More and more in my travels this summer, I saw aircraft, water bombers and choppers, that go back and forth along the rivers, using a lot of money to fight fires. In my time as a firefighter, most of the fires we fought were during the evenings and in the early mornings. We rested during the day and continued at night. We did a more effective job doing this than having people going to work at 8:00 in the morning to fight fires and then going home in the evenings. The fires are worse in the day time and you can't fight them. But, still that's the way they are doing it.
If it is going to be economical, the only way to fight fires is during the evenings. During my travels to Lutsel K'e this summer, talking to residents there, I understand that a fire that was within distance of Lutsel K'e, which could be seen burning at night, was not fought. The local people said it was not their fire, it was Yellowknife's fire. This kind of communication has caused the delay in fighting fires. There was a squabble between two government agencies trying to determine who should be fighting fires. While the argument was going on, the fires were getting away.
Mr. Speaker, as territorial politicians, we have a responsibility to all the residents of the Northwest Territories. We have to look after their physical, mental and spiritual needs. The housing and recreational program needs in the small communities are not being addressed by this government. For example, my honourable colleague from the Kitikmeot recently made a statement about the plight of the people in Bathurst Inlet, as it was formerly known. Just because it is a small community, their needs should not be ignored by the government. Out of sight should not mean out of mind.
Mr. Speaker, we must tailor our programs and devote what limited resources we have to the next generation of northerners. For this reason, Mr. Speaker, I strongly believe this government should seriously consider the creation of a child advocacy worker's position. Too often, Mr. Speaker, I have seen social workers, with the support of RCMP officers, run roughshod over the rights of a child, should the child come to be placed in the care of the superintendent of child welfare.
Although these people all mean well, they are forced, by the very nature of the bureaucracy, to operate within the confines of a rigid set of rules. It is because of these rules, and the department's interpretation of them, that children need an advocate. In some cases, Mr. Speaker, the child is estranged from his or her parents. Who makes sure the child's rights are not violated? This is an area that I think we should be taking bold steps to address.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister for his noble efforts on behalf of all the residents of the Northwest Territories. In these trying economic times and with the uncertainty of financing from the federal government, I do not envy his task. I would ask, Mr. Speaker, that the Minister keep in mind the whole of the Northwest Territories and its people in his future deliberations and treats everybody fairly.
I strongly believe that if we spend money on social infrastructure now, we will save future governments money and hundreds of residents undue pain and suffering, especially children. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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