Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The other day I spoke on the topic of housing and how the growing economy in a number of communities in the Northwest Territories was opening up new windows of opportunity, but it is also making things tough for the disadvantaged, the poor and the sick. Housing is just one of the areas of concern, Mr. Speaker. I work with a number of constituents on various social services issues and there are a couple of common threads that link all of them. We have seen some advances in the last few years in program and service delivery, such as the blending of territorial and federal income support and employment services at the Canada and Northwest Territories Service Centre.

We have seen NGOs and government working as the Minister for Health and Social Services announced a holistic healing program for women. We have seen the YWCA, the Salvation Army and the Women's Centre taking steps to join forces to work on housing solutions. They need our government's backing to be successful. We should be fostering the spirit of partnership, Mr. Speaker, to give better support to the disadvantaged.

These people often have complex problems. The need for housing support, for instance, is often linked with needs for education, for health problems or justice issues related to family violence and abuse.

In working with constituents, I learned that people in these situations go from office to office. They have to explain their situation over and over again to get help. We would do a lot better if we looked at service delivery from the client's point of view, from the point of view of the single mother with two youngsters traipsing around office to office, from voice mail to voice mail to get answers. A single window approach with one explanation, one face-to-face relationship with a skilled worker who has the time and the resources to do a good job would be a big step.

Yesterday, my colleague for Range Lake referenced the burden of social workers. They are not alone. Income support workers have caseloads that I understand are as much as triple their counterparts in other parts of Canada. Right now they are giving us a signal that their network is at the breaking point. Are we listening?

This Assembly's vision statement promises to foster self-reliant, independent citizens, Mr. Speaker. I believe if we put more emphasis on life skill support, we can help people maintain stability and help them get off that cycle of dependence. I look forward to the Ministers and the social services programs working together to benefit the help that we have for the disadvantaged. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.