Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. In light of our acknowledgement of the illiteracy rate of the Northwest Territories, the average of which is 15 percent, and some of our communities are as high as 61 percent, I was somewhat disillusioned during the review of the business plan for the department of Health and Social Services with their Health Promotion Strategy.
In their Health Promotion Strategy, they failed to recognize the negative effect that illiteracy has on the health and well being of members of the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, they also did not recognize illiteracy as a critical issue affecting their department. I would argue, Mr. Speaker, that illiteracy contributes to the social and health problems that the department faces. If you cannot read all the shiny pamphlets in the world on the dangers of AIDS or sharing needles, they are not going to help you.
Can the Minister inform the House whether her department acknowledges the effects that literacy has on the health and well being of Northerners? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.