Thank you, Madam Speaker. I rise today to speak on a subject that is close to my heart. I have always been concerned about the erosion of the aboriginal culture in the Northwest Territories. I believe that some of the programs that this government has introduced over the last ten years may look good on paper, but have done little to support the people's aspirations at the grassroots community level.
Madam Speaker, the attempts of the divisional boards to incorporate cultural and traditional instructions in curriculum may be a noble effort. But I ask, Madam Speaker, how do you teach a child about their heritage, about our close ties with mother earth, in a classroom? The whole concept of traditional knowledge does not lend itself to the institutional setting such as school. By taking responsibility away from the community and legislating the cultural and traditional knowledge that is to be taught in school, we, as a government, are seen to be interfering in an area we have no jurisdiction in.
Madam Speaker, we, as a government, have signed a language agreement with the federal government. This agreement gives us money to spend on the promotion of aboriginal languages. The problem I have with this, Madam Speaker, is that it seems to me all the money we receive under this agreement is being spent on bureaucrats. I do not see this money filtering down to the community level, to the people it most affects and is relevant to. This, in my opinion, is another example of the top-heavy Government of the Northwest Territories.
Madam Speaker, there has been much talk over the past couple of sessions on the issue of custom adoption. The government has promised to introduce legislation to deal with this important issue. The problem I have with this, Madam Speaker, is that if we legitimize custom adoption, that is if we, as a legislature, adopt a Euro-Canadian set of laws and recognitions to deal with custom adoption, we are not just defeating the entire cultural rationalization for the practice of custom adoption.
Madam Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to complete my statement.