Our children are our future. If we are to realize the true potential of the many economic and other opportunities before us, we must have a healthy, well-educated population, ready to take advantage of all that the future has to offer. Recognizing that our capacity to learn and grow is significantly influenced by our experiences in early childhood, we are committed to improving programs and services to our youngest residents. We want all children in the Northwest Territories to be born healthy and to have every opportunity to reach their full potential. This Assembly has identified Early Childhood Development as a priority. We have responded to this challenge and are prepared to implement an Early Childhood Development Action Plan. We are committing $2 million per year for the next three years to this action plan.

Our investment in early childhood development will have four major streams:

• • Healthy pregnancies and healthy babies - with a significant focus on FAS/FAE prevention and early intervention and remediation;
• • Healthy parenting - with special supports for young parents and "at risk" families;
• • Early childhood care and learning opportunities - ensuring that children arrive at school "ready to learn"; and
• • Stronger community supports - through integrated planning and program delivery for more effective early childhood development at the community level.

Most communities already have access to some type of support for early childhood activities. The federal government, aboriginal governments, parents, private entrepreneurs and the Government of the Northwest Territories all play significant roles in providing services. However, the current funding and delivery mechanisms are fragmented and not coordinated as well as they could be. We plan to strengthen coordination between funding bodies and build on successful community programs wherever possible. Our goal is to ensure that every child has access to an effective, integrated early childhood development program in his or her community, and that all children arrive at their first day of school, healthy and ready to learn.

Our attention to early childhood development is clearly focused on the long term. It will take a number of years to move from our current, fragmented patchwork of programs to a strong, truly integrated and effective early childhood development approach in all communities. However, we know that successful early childhood development will lead to healthy, educated and productive adult citizens. This in turn will lead to healthier children in the future. If we truly believe that our people are our strongest resource, we must make these investments in our youngest residents.