I will just make a few more comments on the issue of culture, language/heritage and the other part of the department; employment. The preservation of languages and culture still is a major priority and concern of just about everyone in the north. I guess the fears are of the unknown, of where the feds are going to be cutting. A lot of our programs are dependent on federal money. Saying that, this department still, in its budget, through its grants and contributions, provides a considerable amount of money to different organizations in the north. I just want to say that there is a lot of concern. There are a lot of small organizations out there that are doing a lot of good, big work in the communities. They are community-based and work very hard towards preservation of language and culture in the Northwest Territories. I just wanted to put in a plug for them to keep up the work. I hope that, through whatever money we have, we continue to support these organizations where we can.
I note that, again, communication is an area of concern, especially where federal money comes into play because there are proposed cutbacks to CBC, friendship centres and to broadcasting groups, in our own budget. These are all ways that information gets distributed in the Northwest Territories and we have to encourage and support these organizations where we can.
I'm very pleased that new money was found for early childhood development programs and the apprenticeship programs. I think we're all aware that apprenticeship programs provide an opportunity for many, many of our people to become skilled tradespersons. An area where I'm sure we can do a lot more enhancement is to encourage women to take trades and become red seal card-carrying journeymen in whatever trade they pick.
In the area of employment, again, it's no secret that unemployment is rampant in many of our communities, even in the major centres that we classify as level I communities. I've made it no secret that in Inuvik, unemployment is a problem, very similar to many of the smaller communities. Through the initiatives now under this department, we not only have to look at creating jobs in level II and III communities, we have to create jobs and opportunities in the communities where a majority of our population is centred: Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Hay River, Inuvik, and Iqaluit.
I'm very supportive of the initiatives under the income support programs. Again, that is something that is developing. There's a lot of work to do and, hopefully, some of the pilot programs are going to give us a lot of new ideas. I think there are a lot of groups with good ideas and we should get on with it and get the money circulating because there is a lot of money available.
With that, I just wanted to have my say on this department. It's a major department now, with the expansion of its programs, and it's going to become more major with the department taking over the financial assistance programs. Again, planning, as we all know, is crucial at the front-end, not when we have the programs going. That was mentioned more than once during the last couple of days. With that, I'll be quiet. Thank you, very much. Mahsi.
---Applause