Mr. Speaker, today I will be tabling "Working Together For Community Wellness: A Directions Document," on behalf of the Ministers of the social envelope.
Mr. Speaker, northerners have said they need to have more control over health and social services programs. The community wellness strategy will give them more control. People in the communities know what their problems are, and they know how to solve them. Under the community wellness strategy communities will identify their own priorities and develop their own strategies for achieving wellness.
The document being tabled today is part of the ongoing work in developing a community wellness strategy. It will guide the government and the communities in their work to change the way health and social programs are planned and delivered. A completed community wellness strategy with a specific plan of action and implementation schedule will be tabled in the Legislative Assembly in the winter of 1996.
But community wellness will continue to be a government priority in 1995-96. A community action fund of over $3 million will be made available to communities and non-governmental organizations during this time. This money will help fund new and existing community wellness projects that cannot be funded through other programs.
The community action fund will be available only until the final strategy can be implemented, and will give priority to projects in:
-family violence;
-early intervention services for children and families; and,
-training for care givers.
Work on the final strategy will be ongoing in 1995-96. A working group drawn from the social envelope departments will coordinate strategy development. A community wellness steering committee of deputy ministers will oversee their work and continue monitoring other wellness issues. As well, regional community wellness conferences are planned for 1995-96. These conferences will provide further direction for the development of the strategy.
Working Together for Community Wellness:
A Directions Document provides our departments, the residents of the Northwest Territories and non-governmental organizations with a blueprint for the community wellness strategy. It is the joint effort of the departments of Education, Culture and Employment, Health and Social Services, Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs, Justice, Municipal and Community Affairs, the NWT Housing Corporation, and representatives from community and cultural groups, aboriginal organizations, women's groups and non-governmental organizations across the NWT.
Hundreds of people have helped make this document possible by taking time to guide us in the right direction. Their input and collaboration made this new vision possible. Let us now continue in that direction and make that vision a reality.
Mr. Speaker, general release of the English and Inuktitut document will take place shortly. A French translation of the document is now under way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause