Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to the issue of family violence in the Northwest Territories.

As Members of this House know, a public awareness campaign on family violence was launched on Monday and has continued all this week. This campaign represents the collective efforts of non-government and government agencies to raise awareness throughout the Northwest Territories on the pervasiveness of family violence in our society. It is also intended to make all Northerners aware that we each have a role to play in working to eliminate family violence.

During 1999, there were 436 reported incidents of spousal assault by a male perpetrator. In a 1997-98 national survey, the Northwest Territories had the third highest use of shelters in the country, with the Northwest Territories rate for that year being five times the national average. Shelter use is still high today. 639 admissions were reported in 1999-2000, with 53 percent of these admissions representing children.

These statistics reveal only part of the violence tragedy that continues to plague our communities. We know that crimes such as spousal and sexual assault often go unreported. Victims of violence may not report an incident because of:

• • secrecy surrounding the issue;
• • the dependency of the victim on the perpetrator;
• • the lack of knowledge about available help; and
• • repercussions for reporting the event, such as further violence by the batterer.

Violence takes many forms. It can be physical, psychological, emotional, financial and-or sexual. At the family level, it usually impacts women and children. Sadly, Mr. Speaker, over half of

the clients using Northwest Territories shelters are children. Many of them suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder due to the long-term effects of living with violence and the associated ongoing stress in the home.

Children experiencing abuse are more likely to be the next generation of victims and abusers than children who have not been abused. The practice of violence is passed from generation to generation. Boys who grow up in violent homes are three times more likely to become abusive partners than boys who were not raised in violent homes. Girls raised in violent homes are twice as likely to become victims of spousal violence than girls who were not raised in violent homes.

Mr. Speaker, government plays a vital role in addressing family violence. Our programs and services must offer support to people in times of personal crisis as well as when people require assistance in recovering and healing from a violent experience. This past Wednesday, I was pleased to announce the official launch of a pilot program for women and children's healing and recovery. This pilot responds to the complex needs of women and children who have experienced a traumatic event. It demonstrates that strong partnerships between non-government and government agencies can result in innovative and effective programming.

We cannot quietly overlook the devastation that results from family violence. Over the past week, the Premier and Members of this House have shared their thoughts on how family violence affects them, and why we as a government need to speak out on this issue. While change will not happen overnight, this government can work with leaders of our communities, as well as leaders of other governments and organizations, to take action against family violence. As the Premier and I have stated this past week, we are making family violence a priority and continue to strongly uphold this government's commitment to zero tolerance of family violence. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I too support the notion of zero tolerance but I believe it is critical, Mr. Speaker, that we as a government provide the resources that are going to be needed to deal with this problem. We cannot continue to operate with the concept that we can manage the problem for the people by taking people out of families, putting them into shelters, taking the children away and putting them in facilities outside the communities. This has to be dealt with at the community level and the resources have to be there to combat violence in our communities.

I had the opportunity to host the Governor General in Fort McPherson earlier this summer. When we met with the community justice committee and elders in our community, one of the biggest topics raised in that meeting was family violence and how we as community members and as governments can deal with this problem.

One thing that was notable were the restraints put in place by the laws that we have, the resources in our communities to deal with these problems, and also the lack of, or in some cases the very need, to have resource people in our communities to deal with these problems and not take our problems out of our communities and not deal with the problem at home.

I for one feel it is critical, Mr. Speaker, that as a government, we have to improve the resources we have in this area. We have to improve facilities to deal with this problem.

I combated this problem in the 13th Assembly in dealing with the Tl'oondih Healing Program. The Gwich'in Tribal Council invested over $2 million to construct a camp to deal with problems such as family violence, alcohol abuse, sexual abuse and other issues that are apparent in our communities. Yet to date we have received very little support from this government.

How can we as a government stand up and say we support zero tolerance without having the resources in place to do the job to ensure that we change our laws, improve the structures we have in our communities to assist people who have been violated and to assist those people who have carried out the violence? We can do something to change this problem.

With that, Mr. Speaker....

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I think it is apparent that this government has to do more in regard to this matter, resources and ensuring that we have the adequate infrastructure in place in our communities to deal with this. With that, Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services questions on this matter. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to make some comments on family violence week. First, I would like to commend the government on drawing attention to the problems of family violence in the North. I would also like to extend my appreciation to all of the communities in my riding and throughout the North that have held activities during Family Violence Week in attempts to raise the profile on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I had great reservations earlier this week about standing up in this House and making a statement on family violence that was probably not going to have much effect. I only have to draw your attention to 1983. The Legislative Assembly of the day passed a motion that adopted a principle of zero tolerance against all people and endorsed the goal of eliminating family violence by the year 2000.

Well, we are now in the year 2000. Since that motion was passed, according to national crime statistics, the number of annual violent crimes in the Northwest Territories has increased from 4,826 to 5,063 between the years 1994 and 1998, with the biggest increases appearing in the last two years. This is a period during which other types of crimes such as property crime actually decreased in the North. It is also a period of time in which violent crime on the average dropped in the Canadian provinces.

However, while the violent crime rate in the Northwest Territories increases, the attention paid by the Government of the Northwest Territories to community health programs decreases. The main estimates for 2000-2001 for community health programs showed a decrease in the proposed annual expenditures of approximately $190,000 compared to the pervious year's estimates.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories must play a more effective role in preventing family violence. We all know that in the smaller communities we have limited or low paying jobs and poor housing conditions. That always results in low self-esteem and unhealthy living conditions. This places pressure on the families, which can eventually lead to violence, abuse or addictions.

Mr. Speaker, if we are serious in attempting to change the violent crime statistics in the North, we have to reduce dependency on social assistance. We have to build self-esteem. We have to generate employment in our communities. Mr. Speaker, we may have to examine our existing programs to see if they are achieving the goals we are setting in this House.

If the lack of financial resources is the problem, then it becomes essential that we measure, in a meaningful manner, the effectiveness of our existing programming expenditures and, if necessary, channel our resources into new programs.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I realize that the government by itself cannot totally eliminate family violence. However, it is important that we do more than stand up here year after year stating our dedication to ending family violence while our crime rate increases. It is important that this government and all of us do what we can as well as we can to end family violence. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I as well would like to speak to the issue of family violence. Family violence affects all our communities and unfortunately, many of our families in our constituencies. Mr. Speaker, while this family violence is a symptom and if we are indeed going to eradicate family violence, we have to start dealing with the root causes. We have to deal better with education issues. We have to do a better job with employment, with housing. We have to come up with an alcohol and drug strategy that will enable us to deal with the terrible problem of alcohol abuse and children born with FAS and FAE. We have to help families with their parenting skills.

Mr. Speaker, new money is not necessarily the only answer. We have to look at how the government is spending the money it currently has. Is it spending it in the best way possible? Is there real cooperation between Health and Education, Culture and Employment? We are dealing with common clients on this issue. With Housing and Justice, do they actually meaningfully work together and come up with common strategies? We have to have the government complete some of its many ongoing and incomplete strategies, such as the alcohol and drug strategy. A few years ago, we had five alcohol and drug facilities. This year, we have one. We are still waiting for the alcohol and drug strategy. We are waiting for the early intervention strategy. We are waiting for the continuing care strategy.

Mr. Speaker, these are done separately but, in actual fact, they are linked because they deal with the same people in our constituencies. So yes, as a government we need to speak up on this issue but as a government we cannot stand up and say we cannot do anything else because we do not have any new money. There are many ways we could deal with the issue by better spending the resources we have.

We can expand the classification of what a single mother is eligible for in terms of income support and being able to stay home and not cut it off at four-years old. All these things will work to help family violence. They are real, concrete, demonstrable phases of government we can do to show that, while we are morally and politically committed to this fine sentiment, we are also taking a critical, hard look as a government at what we do as one of the major funding agencies in the Northwest Territories to deal with this significant issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to recognize academic excellence by all students across the Northwest Territories and particularly three students from Weledeh who have received the Minister's Award for Academic Excellence;

• • Miranda Bolstad received the award for attaining the highest mark in the Northwest Territories in 99-20 English 30 departmental exams;
• • Ivan Pelov received the same award for the highest mark in Chemistry 30; and
• • Matthew Voytilla received the same award for the highest mark in Physics 30.

We need to celebrate the achievement of these young people and express appreciation to all of those people who have provided support to them, especially the parents and teachers in our school system.

As our economy continues to flourish, we need strong academic performance by our Northwest Territories students so that they can take the jobs in the North. Let us all work together in support of healthy families and communities to ensure all northern students have a bright future in the Northwest Territories. Miranda, Matthew, and Ivan, I wish you much success in your continuing studies and look forward to when you return to careers in the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.