Thank you, Madam Chair. For years there has been discussion of the importance of having decisions made at the level closest to the people affected and this has been a goal of several previous Assemblies and prior governments have tried and tried again through a number of initiatives -- one mentioned earlier called the "Prime Public Authority Initiative" and the others, the "Community Transfer Initiative" and so on and the idea was also a cornerstone of the "Strength at Two Levels" report.
This has been something discussed in the Tenth Legislative Assembly in the Eleventh and as well in the Twelfth Assembly. Each time we have needed to start all over again. It has been frustrating to see the delay in providing communities with the authority to make their own decisions. The people in the North were making decisions about how to deal with their own affairs, how to handle their own social issues and how to serve their own people long before the current model government was imposed.
Basically, the community empowerment initiative is simply giving the people decision-making authorities that were somewhat taken away when the current form of the bureaucracy was brought here a number of years ago. After all these years, we are finally making progress towards empowering communities to take charge of their own affairs. I think that the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs and her officials deserve a lot of credit for moving this initiative forward as progressively as they have.
As the Minister of Transportation and as well the Minister of Safety and Public Services, I have seen this progress first hand.
We have seen how, by transferring responsibilities for some of the programs and services to the communities, better decisions are being made that affect the people, decisions that have been made with the leaders that were elected locally.
For years, for example, the issue of lottery administration as been a contentious one. People in the communities have been aware of the impact of things like bingos and other gambling on the social conditions on the people in the communities. People have seen the social causes and have wanted to have some direct control over these things. Now that this Department of Safety and Public Services has made progress towards placing this decision-making authority in the hands of the communities and the department has ensured that these transfers have received all the training and the authorities in the communities have received the training and the support that they need.
We are also moving towards empowerment in the area of transportation. Discussions, for instance, have been under way with Tuktoyaktuk for about two years. We have moved from using a territorial government workforce for airport operations to contract with the hamlet. We have also contracted directly with the upgrade of the air terminal building. We have been involved in discussions with Baker Lake for the transfer of the airport. This idea has now been expanded to include consideration of airport transfers to other Keewatin communities. The framework for these sorts of transfers are now being reviewed.
There are other examples. In Broughton Island, we have recently done a full authority transfer agreement to allow the community to take over a road relocation project. Over and over again, we find that communities are capable of taking on these authorities and they are motivated to take them over. Thirty-six of the 52 community airports are already operated by communities. This is the first step towards full transfer.
Through all of these experiences, the message that is coming loudly and clearly from communities is that this government should continue to provide the communities with the authority to make their own decisions. In many cases, it is not the government that is saying, "Here, take this on." Communities are saying, "Give us that authority that is rightfully ours."
What would the honourable Members who are speaking about the risk and the concerns associated with community empowerment have me tell the mayors, the community leaders and the chiefs? What would those Members have me say when the northerners tell us to get the decision-making out of the offices and the boardrooms in Yellowknife where they have been made in the past, and have me tell those leaders, "No, you have to wait until we take you by the hand and show you how to do it."?
I think community empowerment is the right approach for the 90s and it is the right approach for the North. Again, I believe that our communities are capable. I think there are people in the communities that have the skill, and I believe they have the expertise. If they do not have that, they would acquire that expertise. Where it is necessary, they have the capacity to take on the training. Most important, I believe the communities have the leadership to do this.
Finally, I would like to say that now is the time to push ahead with the ideal that we have recognized and which have been needed for many, many years. Thank you.
---Applause