Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this past Friday afternoon all schools in the Yellowknife area took part in what was probably the single largest participation event ever held in Yellowknife. Mr. Whitford and I joined about 2,300 marchers, which is about 14 per cent of the population of Yellowknife. The group was made up mostly of grades 4 to 12 students who marched through the streets of Yellowknife to the community arena, in the first Elks and Royal Purple drug and alcohol awareness walk ever held in Yellowknife.
Mr. Speaker, the organizers of this event did an exceptional job. They arranged for each school to wear T-shirts in different colours: yellow; white; turquoise; red; et cetera, and the event was organized and timed so that each school emerged onto Franklin Avenue one after the other to become one huge team parade of young people and colours. It was a successful participation event, not just because of the numbers who participated, but because the drug and alcohol abuse awareness message reached such a large percentage of the target population: kids from grades 4 through 12, the ages where most drug experimentation and use begins.
In Yellowknife, the prevalence of drug use by young people as well as the recent outbreak of youth crime, is disturbing to all of us. It is not simply a police problem or solely the responsibility of teachers and counsellors. It is a community problem to be addressed by all of us who live in the community. This was one of the messages that the Elks and its sister movement, the Royal Purple, were trying to get across in staging this event. Mr. Speaker, just as important was the goal to raise awareness among school kids of the social, psychological and financial costs of drugs. There is no doubt that the organizers of this spectacular event deserve a great deal of credit for having achieved both those goals with flying colours.
The financial totals haven't been calculated yet, but organizers are pleased with the fund-raising efforts; in particular five major sponsors including BHP Diamonds; YK Direct Charge Co-op; RTL Robinson Enterprises; Creative Paper and Supplies; and, NorthwesTel provided substantial lump sums without which the whole event would not have been possible. The money raised is to be used to fund programs to teach young people about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse, programs like information hotlines, crises centres, drug-free dances and so on.
Mr. Speaker, the Elks have raised the money and now it's up to all of us to come up with ideas for effective programs that can be used to fight the war on drug and alcohol abuse. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause