Thank you, Mr. Chairperson. Before I became a Minister, we were all asked to state the reasons why we wanted to become a Minister. I spoke about the need to build the skills of our community so more decisions can be made at the local level; to reduce the deficit and still maintain a high level of public service and to improve the social conditions in the north by pooling community capacity, self confidence and pride.
Mr. Chairperson, I believe throughout my term I have been working hard to improve upon these areas of concern. Mr. Chairperson, I believe I have been very approachable, as has my department and I have been open and honest in my communications.
During my term I have spent much time communicating with community leaders across the Northwest Territories. As Ministers, we all have had to learn about new programs and about a different culture and community differences.
In my first year, I visited over half the communities across the Territories, many in the western regions. I took time to learn. Mr. Chairperson, community empowerment is a priority established by this government's Agenda for Change, with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs being assigned the lead. It is about changing the way we do business in government so that communities can regain their independence. Even today, there are too many decisions that are made by the territorial government that could be made by the communities themselves.
As Members, we must have confidence in our community people to make community decisions for themselves. Mr. Chairman, I was very pleased to be given the responsibility for Municipal and Community Affairs. As Members we all believe in the importance of local government, and the importance of creating more opportunities for communities to develop and take control of their own futures.
When MACA inherited Community Transfer Initiatives, it was just about transfers. As Cabinet Ministers, we proposed the broader concept of community empowerment. As leaders we wanted to put a solid community-development foundation in place. I also wanted to state that when the Members are talking about community empowerment, they think it is just transfers. It is not just transfers. It is more than that. It is building a foundation for the communities. We as a government, have a responsibility to make sure communities have the skills and the resources required to be successful in the two new territories.
Mr. Chairman, a number of key activities have been long under way that support our development approach to community empowerment. Communities are getting involved in community-based planning to do a vision in their communities, decide where they want to be, the challenges they need to overcome, the priority areas they need to focus on and the things they want to accomplish. The action they need to get to where they want to be.
Communities are assessing their capacity in light of the opportunities. They have available and are training people for the responsibility that comes with empowerment. Communities are participating with the department to change municipal legislation and municipal financing arrangements and to make it more flexible and responsive to community and territorial needs.
Communities are also working with the department to improve municipal financing arrangements to make it more flexible and responsible to community, territorial needs. Communities are being consulted. Departments are working together on regional inter-departmental community empowerment teams to support community development in each region.
Mr. Chairman, there has been a lot of attention on community empowerment initiatives, but it is important to remember that is not all that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs does.
The core programs that provide municipal infrastructure, financial assistance, sports and recreation, emergency services, consumer protection, property assessment, land administration and a wide range of training programs are still in place and providing valuable support in communities.
I have been clear in my direction to the department that these core programs are essential and must be maintained. Communities rely on this support, and I am pleased to say that by and large, they receive excellent support from our regional offices.
At regional leadership meetings, I seek direct feedback from the Mayors on how the department is doing. For the most part, the feedback I get is positive. The communities know that MACA listens and does its best to help.
When there are issues and concerns from communities or MLAs, I make sure they are addressed quickly. Mr. Chairman, under my direction, MACA has also undertaken a number of initiatives to help reduce the government deficit. The department itself absorbs a permanent one million dollar reduction to its O and M budget in 96/97. It is also important to know that 80 percent of my department's budget goes directly to communities in transfer payments. In 96/97 these payments were reduced by 5 percent. Mr. Chairperson, community governments themselves are major economic players in the north. They employ staff, provide services and programs to residents and undertake capital projects. As I mentioned earlier, MACA transfers, about 80 percent of its budget, go directly to community governments through various financial support programs. At the same time, through my department's many training programs, community staff learn to manage their funds efficiently and effectively.
Every year more of MACA's capital projects are delivered through project management agreements. It is through these efforts that we have been working to improve the economic conditions in the north.
Mr. Chairman, I believe that the sooner the communities have control and authority over decisions that affect them, the sooner we will see social conditions improve. We have to realize the dependency that have been created on government is contributing to a lot of social problems. It is interesting to see that many of the issues that people are identifying in their community based planning workshops are social issues. People care about their communities, and they want to do something about the problems.
My Department of Municipal and Community Affairs continues to play a key role in the area of social improvements. Our responsibilities include: search and rescue efforts across the NWT; strategies that encourage volunteerism and training for volunteers. Construction of recreation facilities that provide a place for people to meet, get involved, compete for their community and mix with their families. Administering team NWT involvement in the NWT Winter Games/Canada Game/Western Canada Games in the North American indigenous games and strategies that support community wellness and youth development.
My responsibilities for the women's directorate also have the government playing an important role in developing resources and workshops that improve upon the social conditions across the north.
Mr. Chairman, our government is committed to building capacity in communities, so local people can successfully take on more decision-making authority and responsibility so that in the end it is the local people making local decisions for the benefit of their community.
The results of community empowerment are positive and encouraging. In the future I expect my Department to concentrate on the ongoing development of our communities; to work with them in developing and implementing their plans, monitoring and evaluating their responsibilities and identifying and providing needed training - I just added to our minutes - assisting communities with the development of their organizations, structures and volunteer base; continue progress on the work needed to better persist in both new territories for success; continue management of spending while looking for ways of improved efficiencies and partnerships and increasing individual and community awareness of their responsibilities to health, safety and education and the community.
I would also like to thank the people in my constituency, in the communities of Chesterfield Inlet, Coral Harbour and Repulse Bay for their support. Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.