Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, will be making a statement about the friendship centres in the Northwest Territories. As the Member stated, this morning we had the opportunity to hear from the Northwest Territories Council for Friendship Centres in relation to some of the obligations they have to fulfil and, also, the dedication they have to serve the people of the Northwest Territories. In regard to the friendship centres in Canada, this is considered one of the oldest aboriginal institutions in Canada which moved north in the 1970s. The Tree of Peace Friendship Centre was established in Yellowknife in the early 1960s and other centres were developed from then, such as the Uncle Gabe's Friendship Centre, the Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre and Ingamo Hall in Inuvik. Mr. Speaker, in regard to the work and efforts these organizations do to assist, not only the government, but to serve the people of the Northwest Territories, I think it is important to note that all other jurisdictions in Canada, using an example such as Alberta who allocates more than $250,000 a year to the Alberta Native Friendship Centres, plus an additional $25,000 to $30,000 to each of their 20 centres to offset the operational costs. The same thing applies in British Columbia which allocates $100,000 to provincial friendship centres and up to $30,000 to each friendship centre to offset the operational costs.
Mr. Speaker, it is critical that we support these organizations with the initiatives that we see. I think where we have gone with this government with the deficits and the cuts we see in our community, more and more people do not have the services and agencies that they had at one time. The demand on these organizations, such as the friendship centres, is coming to the point where they are dealing with not only social issues, but justice issues and assisting people where a lot of the systems and programs we had in place before are no longer there. Mr. Speaker, it is critical that this government and other colleagues of this House seriously look into the delivery of programs and services that this government offers. Such an organization like the friendship centre has to be allowed the benefit of the doubt and have the opportunity to seriously play an active role in what happens in this government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.