Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my colleague, Mr. Krutko, spoke about the budget and some of his concerns. I, too, have some concerns on the budget, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I know we are challenged fiscally in the Northwest Territories. We know that the federal government collects most of the royalties and taxations from the Territories, and we don't get too many revenues. Mr. Speaker, what troubles me is for 35 years now this government has been in the Northwest Territories. For 35 years the city of Yellowknife and regional centres have been doing very well. For 35 years, Mr. Speaker, what I've seen are more positions being put into Yellowknife and regional centres so that these government bureaucracies could govern the smaller communities. Why is it that you need a regional body to deliver programs and services in Lutselk'e? Why can't we create a bureaucracy, an administrative arm in every community in the Northwest Territories so that people can have a role to play in their communities, Mr. Speaker?
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Budget Address by Mr. Manley; I'll quote Mr. Manley under the heading of families and communities:
"Canadians want to see more power in the hands of individuals to seize or better create opportunity for themselves to break the cycle of poverty and dependency. They want more power in the hands of communities to identify and solve problems and to share responsibility for building a better quality of life for their members."
But yet, Mr. Speaker, for 35 years this government has done the opposite. We'll govern from the top. We won't provide the resources and we won't provide you with a role. If you have a role, it will be through your elected band council or so on. But, no, we're going to keep the administrative staff in Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Fort Simpson, Hay River, Inuvik and Norman Wells. Those are our government.
When a person files an application for health or sends a letter to a friend in Toronto, a person from Fort Good Hope, Holman Island, Lutselk'e, it doesn't matter. They say Holman Island, Northwest Territories. They say Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories. They say Fort Good Hope, Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker. But this government seems to be a government of regional centres, which just happen to be in the Northwest Territories.
As long as we don't give a role to people to play in their communities... I'm not just talking about jobs, Mr. Speaker, I'm talking about a role. If a person doesn't have a role, then they're dependent. We have been creating a legacy of dependency as far as I'm concerned. The budget that was introduced is just another example. We'll give more to the city of Yellowknife for administrative and bureaucratic purposes. We'll give more to Hay River and Fort Smith so that we can flood it with people, so they can deliver programs on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories to the poor people of Lutselk'e and Paulatuk. Those people can't do it for themselves. They're not educated. If that's going to be the legacy, what's the point of communities even negotiating land claims or wanting to better themselves?
Under our geographic tracking system, Mr. Speaker, we identify a little over 3000 positions that are working for the Government of the Northwest Territories; 3,843, let's say around 4000. Approximately 2000 of those positions are in the city of Yellowknife. Six-hundred-fifteen positions represent 27 communities. The majority of those are seasonal positions: forestry working for RWED; teachers working during the winters. How can we, as a government, tell people we have a plan for you, when we keep telling them do as I say? Just do as we want you to do.
We have been creating a legacy of dependency. When the communities want to participate with this government, what they do is have to fill out six stacks of applications or write proposals. Once they get their grants they have to respond to the government for accountability reasons, to a point where people don't even ask for money anymore. We need to diversify the economy of the Northwest Territories. We need to give Lutselk'e a reason to exist. We don't need to plant other people's wishes on them. We need to provide them with the human and financial resources so that they can create the opportunities, create employment in the communities, and create a role for themselves so that they can improve life in their communities and for themselves.
Mr. Speaker, we have been losing our language and our culture. We haven't been improving the education system to a point where we are graduating 100 percent of the students. If we get 50 percent we're lucky. Those who graduate through our testing programs, we've determined that they're not even Grade 12 level. We graduate them for statistical reasons.
How can a young child in a small community be motivated to get an education when there are no jobs? Sure, there are jobs now in the mining sector. Without the mining sector or the possibility of employment in the oil and gas sector, what can motivate a young person?
We have to do a better job of creating opportunities right across the board, devolving government to the communities instead of being the overlord of communities. Why do we need a regional educational institution in Fort Smith so that they can deliver programs and services in Lutselk'e? We had a health board in Lutselk'e, we had a health board in Fort Resolution. The government took it back. There was one opportunity to create a role for the community. But as soon as there were some problems, it didn't take the government long to take it back.
How much longer do we have to govern before we realize that by creating regional institutions, regional bureaucracies to deliver programs in the communities, we create dependency in the communities that we expect to break out of this cycle? People want a role to play in the communities, but the only role we give them is that of complaining.
Housing is a shortage. My colleague, Ms. Lee, spoke on more than one occasion that Yellowknife gets less per capita. But how many millions of dollars have we spent on the oil and gas pipeline potential, without one lobbying movement by my colleagues from the city of Yellowknife? Mr. Nault, the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs decided to place an office here. Why? Because all the facilities and all the resources are here in Yellowknife. As long as we continue to follow the same pattern, no other community is going to have the same advantages.
Earlier I spoke about how the Northwest Territories is represented in national athletic events by the regional centres, mainly the city of Yellowknife. Why is that? Because all the facilities are here. Why? Because people are moving here because there are jobs here, there's housing here. Lately, Mr. Speaker, that's been challenged, but that challenge has been faced by my constituents in Fort Resolution and Lutselk'e since day one.
I made a statement in the House yesterday regarding Mr. Handley's choice of foot attire, your moccasins. Mr. Speaker, I hope Mr. Handley and his Cabinet colleagues borrow the shoes of those leaders who represent the smaller communities, so they can walk a mile in their shoes and see the challenges that they face. It's a big challenge to live in a small community. Having all the bureaucracy here in the city of Yellowknife; sure, you have 2000 people employed who are not hungry. You'll have time to volunteer in the communities, you'll have time to coach. But yet in our small communities, that's all they ask us to do: volunteer, volunteer, volunteer. If volunteer is the only role that we're going to be expected to play, I don't think we want to participate too much.
We have to devolve the responsibility of delivering programs and services to every community, instead of being told from the top. We have to create employment and an economic base in our communities. We can't do that by setting up regional institutions to deliver programs and services at the community level. The only way we're going to regain our strength as a people, from an aboriginal perspective, is if you give us a role outside of aboriginal politics and aboriginal governments. We as a government are charged with delivering programs and services here. Let's devolve some of those positions to the communities so that those communities can come up with their own people to deliver the programs and services.
Mr. Speaker, we have to break the cycle here. We have to break the cycle of top-down government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause