Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to provide this House with some examples of the impact that the government's 10 percent cuts will have on women's organizations in the NWT. Ten percent might not seem like much when people are losing their jobs, but we have to look at the impact of 10 percent. Women's Initiatives Grants Program is a source of money for community women's groups, and other organizations. These are the foundation projects that can have a real impact on local people through community women who know what is needed, who are working to reduce social problems where this government is facing the largest incremental costs.
The Status of Women Council is doing other work, like the study on the needs of breast cancer survivors, another on human rights legislation affecting women, work that will help young women to enter non-traditional occupations, work on community wellness, and a long list of other projects, Mr. Speaker. Its ability to continue this work and to provide this knowledge to government and to community women will be hampered. Women's groups at the community level have almost no money to operate, yet the Council will likely be forced to charge them for the information and workshops it has always provided for free.
Women's groups, especially those just starting out, want and need help with board development, proposal writing, workshops on self-esteem, healthy parenting, healthy relationships, family violence, but the Council's already tiny budget for the community worker to give workshops will be cut. Often the Council helps these groups access sources of money outside of the NWT, but that will also be reduced. Staff of women's organizations already earn less than equivalent government positions, and putting long hours of voluntary overtime because of their dedication, yet because some expenses are fixed, the organizations will have to look at more than 10 percent cut to salaries, when the government only asked their staff to take 6.25 percent. I would like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement, Mr. Speaker, thank you.