Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS the Standing Committee on Finance and the Special Committee on Health and Social Services both recommend that there be a fair balance in government spending between infrastructure, economic development and social programs;

AND WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories has recognized that it must move rapidly towards increased communication and cooperation amongst all the partners that provide services in the social programs;

AND WHEREAS the departments of Health and Social Services, Education, Culture and Employment, Justice and the NWT Housing Corporation have, through the formation of the Social Envelope Committee, developed initiatives that are outlined in the document Budget Supplement 1995-96 - Social Envelope Committee;

AND WHEREAS the Social Envelope Committee has identified that its objectives are to improve services by focusing resources around client needs, to remove the artificial barriers between departments and programs, to facilitate the transfer of resources, to remove duplication and foster coordination, and to achieve better value for money;

AND WHEREAS the departments in the Social Envelope Committee have been involved in consultations with communities to develop a "community wellness strategy;"

AND WHEREAS communities have expressed their desire to play the lead role in determining what initiatives will work best for them and to decide how to spend the money that is available within their community, which will require the departments in the social envelope to find ways of making funding mechanisms more flexible to allow this;

AND WHEREAS the Minister of Health and Social Services has indicated that there is a need to try new approaches to deal with priorities in areas such as family violence, early intervention and services to youth;

AND WHEREAS the social envelope Ministers are recommending a "community action fund" to help community groups test their ideas;

AND WHEREAS it is important that these initiatives be supported with sufficient funding to enable these initiatives to be tested and implemented;

AND WHEREAS there is a source of funding that would not necessitate tax increases or reallocations from program spending;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Frame Lake, that the Executive Council give earnest consideration to allocating $3.2 million from the 1995-96 supplementary funding reserve so as to address and implement the initiatives contained in the document "Budget Supplement 1995-96 - Social Envelope Committee."