Last year, aboriginal, territorial and municipal leaders met with service providers and non-governmental organizations to discuss the development of a social agenda that would provide a framework to effect change and improve the quality of life of our citizens, their families and Northwest Territories communities.

A 20-member Social Agenda Working Group, with members from the GNWT, non-government organizations, the federal government, aboriginal governments, and the NWT Association of Municipalities will be reporting in April on progress made in developing this agenda. Between April and June, the group will work on developing indicators to measure the progress of social development over time.

This initiative provides a needed balance to the government's overall agenda. We have a responsibility to ensure that our people are strong enough to take advantage of the opportunities being created by our growing economy.

Although the lion's share of our budget is allocated in support of social programs, we know that serious challenges still exist. We know we need comprehensive, collaborative and system-wide action that cuts across departments, sectors and specific issues. The issue may not be how much we spend on social programs but whether our expenditures effectively accomplish the desired outcomes. We look forward to receiving the working group's specific, focused recommendations on how we can work together more closely to implement creative and innovative solutions to problems that are not only this government's concern but involve all public and aboriginal governments, communities, families and individuals.

The Social Agenda Working Group is wrestling with these issues. The working group has invested considerable energy in thinking through recommendations that will hopefully support departments in implementing their strategies and plans and ultimately lead to more effective and targeted expenditures of public funds. Those recommendations that require new funding will be considered for the 2003-2004 fiscal year. This does not mean, however, that we cannot act in the meantime on those recommendations that can be implemented within existing budgets.