Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier this session, I informed the Legislative Assembly about the establishment of the Minister's forum on income support reform. This forum of seven northerners has been consulting with people across the Northwest Territories for the past several weeks to gather their opinions on how income support programs can be made more effective and reformed to reflect the priorities and concerns of NWT residents. I am pleased that I will be able to table their recommendations later this week.
Mr. Speaker, the forum heard overwhelmingly that income support programs need to be changed to give people incentives to look after their own needs so that they can regain pride and self-esteem.
Many northerners recognized the need for individual and community healing as the first step towards greater self-sufficiency. The forum recommends that changes in income support be linked to the community wellness strategy.
The forum report also tell us that people want income support programs to recognize the role of traditional activities. Hunting, trapping, sewing, carving and fishing are the cornerstones of a traditional lifestyle. Recommendations were made on how these activities could become part of income support. For instance, social assistance could be combined with harvesters' assistance.
Mr. Speaker, the forum leaders were particularly interested in how to improve the situation of young people in the Northwest Territories. Much of the advice they heard focused on how to encourage young people to develop skills to follow a traditional lifestyle and to take part in the wage economy. People said that if young people want to receive welfare they must meet certain conditions, such as staying in school, learning parenting skills, pursuing training programs or community service, working with elders or working at outpost camps in traditional pursuits.
Education and training play a key role in helping people become more self-sufficient. People said that training must relate to real jobs in communities, including traditional activities. People want to encourage the development of markets for traditional products like wild meat, fish and clothing and they want income support programs used as incentives to residents to go out on the land. People also said it was difficult for community residents to travel to large centres for training and proposed that training be provided in every community.
Mr. Speaker, many people also saw increased community control of social programs as the foundation for income support reform. Specifically, many communities want block funding so that they have the opportunity to plan programs in a strategic way that best meets the needs of the community and of individuals within that community. But the forum leaders caution that turning over control of income support programs to communities would need to be phased in, and that training would have to be provided for community resource people and for strategic planning.
People are well aware that income support reform will not happen overnight. The report recommends that communities and government negotiate pilot projects to allow communities to gain experience in managing block funding and to allow them to develop programs that reflect the community's needs and priorities.
Mr. Speaker, people across the Northwest Territories have supported the work of the forum and would like to see its work continue. Since implementing income support reform will take some time, northerners feel that the forum has an important role to play in conducting further community consultation and providing advice to this Assembly. One of the report's recommendations, therefore, is to appoint the forum as an advisory committee to the Government of the NWT to monitor and confirm the implementation plan.
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased with the high quality of advice that the Members of the Minister's forum have gathered from the people of the Northwest Territories. Reforming income support programs will be challenging, but I feel that the advice we have received gives us the direction we need. Thank you.
---Applause