Thank you, Madam Speaker. On Monday of next week, Finance Minister, John Pollard, will be presenting the O and M spending plan for the 1994-95 fiscal year. This will be the third of four budgets to be presented by the government during its term of office. It reflects a determination to return to a balanced budget, while maintaining existing services. We all recognize that this isn't an easy task. During the past three years, all of us have been involved in an extremely difficult financial and complex political situation.
There has been considerable change. There have been changes in the membership of this House, changes in Cabinet, how government is organized and how it is conducting its business, and changes that will lead to a post-division budget in less than three years, with the creation of two new territories by April of 1999.
Public expectations have also shifted. People are demanding increased financial and administrative accountability. They want governments at all levels to work together, to end waste and to spend their tax dollars wisely. And they want help in solving the many serious social problems afflicting and undermining the well-being of the Northwest Territories.
Strong families that are free of violence and properly sheltered, well-educated youth, employment opportunities and a greater degree of community control over programs and services are seen by northern residents as the keys to a better future. Madam Speaker, Cabinet, the Legislative Assembly and its standing and special committees have been making progress towards meeting these objectives.
But there is still much to do and not much time for this Assembly to finish the work it started after the election of 1991. As a result, the remainder of our term promises to be extremely significant. In a statement to this House at the start of session, I noted that Cabinet intends to concentrate its efforts on making sure what began in 1991 is either completed or nearing completion by 1995.
That includes living within our means. We have to make sure that the sizeable amount of money we spend on paying for the management and administration of government doesn't become an increasing burden on the resources required to help those most in need and to help create jobs in all sectors of our economy. It also includes, among other things, steps or initiatives dealing with family violence, the education system, stimulation of economic opportunities, reform of income support systems, custom adoptions and access to government information.
Madam Speaker, we have an obligation to the people who put us here. They put us here to work together to develop a consensus and to find constructive solutions to the problems that are bothering them. That is the challenge we face, despite the budget pressures we deal with on a regular basis and the financial situation that is crippling the federal and provincial governments.
Relatively speaking, our long-term economic outlook remains positive, particularly in the minerals sector, which we expect to be the stimulus for the development of transportation infrastructure, in partnership with Ottawa and the private sector. But that doesn't mean we can afford to forget about our multi-million dollar health billings dispute and the housing crisis resulting from Ottawa's elimination of cost-shared new social housing in the territories.
We intend to continue our pursuit of a fair and reasonable resolution to those outstanding issues and other financial irritants, particularly those that place us in a disadvantaged position compared to the type of equalization formulas that exists between the federal government and the have-not provinces. Ministers will be speaking to you in greater detail on these and other matters during this budget session.
Madam Speaker, many items that have occupied the government since coming into office, such as consolidation, the sale of staff housing, decentralization, community transfers, and privatization, are being implemented. Other matters that have been discussed are now coming forward to the Assembly for debate.
A number of initiatives, such as the new building and learning strategy, will be put into place during this summer's construction season. The building and learning strategy is designed to generate properly trained northern workers who will recapture, by the year 2000, the estimated $16 million per year in wages that are currently being paid to southern construction workers.
In addition, the government will be tabling a renewable resources development strategy during this session, which will identify economic opportunities in the renewable resource sector. A document dealing with development of a mineral strategy is already before the House. People must have a choice of working in traditional or industrial economies.
Work is also progressing on a health services strategy, and Arctic College is developing a strategic plan as part of the process of decentralization and in order to get ready for division. At the appropriate time, the Assembly will be asked to consider legislation creating two colleges, one in the east and the second in the west.
Earlier, I referred to the serious social problems confronting many individuals, families and communities in the Northwest Territories. These problems, in one way or another, are contributing to a breakdown in family values and lifestyles and lead to violence in the home or criminal activities in general. Madam Speaker, beating up on spouses, sexual abuse of adults and children, and alcohol and drug dependency can't be tolerated. We have to create a strategy that will help restore traditional values and a stronger sense of self-reliance.
With this in mind, we will begin a discussion on the matter tomorrow, with representatives from various interest groups. These problems must be resolved and everyone has to be involved in the solution. The discussion is a follow-up to a recommendation by the Special Committee on Health and Social Services calling for zero tolerance against family violence and a declaration on zero tolerance tabled by the Minister of Justice, Stephen Kakfwi, in December.
Other important documents that will be brought forward during this session include papers on income support and training, and legislation dealing with custom adoption and access to government information. As you know, a document outlining the government's response to the gender equality report has already been tabled and is ready for discussion. So is a discussion paper by the Department of Education that will be used to finalize a comprehensive strategy that will guide the development and delivery of education, culture and employment programs to the year 2010.
Madam Speaker, the area of income support is of particular importance. The systems that are in place need to be reformed in order to provide better overall coordination and to make sure the support systems no longer create barriers to work and training opportunities. The need to reform the income support regime in a manner that will combine all aspects of social assistance, income support, employment development and training has recently been approved, in principle, by Cabinet. It doesn't make any sense to pay able-bodied people to stay at home.
Part of the work in the area of income support reform is in response to recommendations from the Special Committee on Health and Social Services. We will table a comprehensive response to the committee's report before the end of the budget session. The government will also be introducing legislation dealing with access to information, custom adoptions and guardianship and trusteeship, during the current session.
The Access to Information and Privacy Act will provide a mechanism for the public to access all information held by the government, subject to limited and specific exceptions. It will also provide for the protection of privacy in respect to information relating to individuals.
The Aboriginal Custom Adoption Recognition Act sets out a simple procedure to obtain recognition of an aboriginal custom adoption that will have the effect of a court order. The Guardianship and Trusteeship Act, among other things, provides for the court appointment of a guardian to make decisions on behalf of an adult who is incapable of independently managing his or her personal care.
In conclusion, Madam Speaker, we now have about 20 months left in our mandate to finish what we started and to lay the groundwork on some new initiatives that will prove to be of considerable help to the next Assembly.
Madam Speaker, I am confident we will succeed. The desire for change is strong across the Northwest Territories, and that strength will help guide our deliberations and decision-making. Thank you.
---Applause