Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the biggest challenges we face in our communities is the delivery mechanisms for programs and services that we deliver on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories. The Government of the Northwest Territories has a program to transfer programs and services to communities. The current policy of the government is community empowerment programs.

The fault of the program is not the program. The program that transfers does not have enough resources to allow the communities to properly administer and deliver those programs and services for the residents of the Northwest Territories. The programs that have been transferred to date are income support workers, mental health workers, economic development officers and, in some cases, renewable resource officers.

Yet, Mr. Speaker, the programs that have been delivered have been delivered from 1994 onward and we have not seen increases in those amounts in over eight years. Mr. Speaker, the work that these people do is just as crucial as any government employee's is. The human resources that are needed to run these programs have to be qualified. The financial resources that we need to pay and accommodate these employees to carry out their responsibilities has to be adequate.

The transfer of community programs is there to improve social and economic conditions, not to burden them with a lack of people and a lack of resources. Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories' transfer of programs and services has forced communities, because of the lack of resources, to transfer those programs and services back to this government because of the inadequate resources to administer and hire the people to carry out those responsibilities.

Mr. Speaker, one of the key positions that I talk about is the mental health workers in our communities. The mental health workers program assists communities dealing with health and emotional matters such as suicide, alcohol and drug abuse, violence and looking at the problem we have with FAS/FAE in the communities.

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