Thank you, Chairman. I consider the Department of MACA to be a key department in the Government of the Northwest Territories. A very important aspect of our work as the Government of the Northwest Territories is assisting communities to build up their infrastructure, their roads, other assets and so on. So MACA with their New Deal has devolved that responsibility to the communities. I think it’s a good way to go. I haven’t heard any complaints from either of my two communities on the lack of support for them to develop a plan, although I haven’t seen the development of a plan from the two communities. I am sure that if either of those two communities had any problems in developing capital plans for themselves, it would be no problem for the department to assist the communities.
I guess the one factor that is going to be difficult to get around, aside from what I spoke of earlier on ownership and so on, will likely be that the communities will not be able to do long-term planning now. Although long-term planning would be possible, it would be difficult.
I don’t know how we’re able to get around that factor. Even though the GNWT itself as a whole gets its money on an annual basis — the budget’s voted in here on an annual basis — the GNWT is able to fairly accurately allocate a five-year plan. Again, I don’t know the details; I’m just looking at the standard pitfalls of devolving responsibilities to the community.
I’m hoping the community would be given some certainty that the budgets will stay relatively consistent over the next four or five years. I think it’s important that the communities will then develop their plans to address their needs. When the communities begin to see that the plan is in place, that the money is flowing fairly consistently within the next couple of years, and so on, they would provide more detail in their plans and with more certainty. I would say their planning could be a little bit earlier. Probably a lot of the backlog of infrastructure issues in the communities could be caught up. I think all of the communities would see improvement in their infrastructure around the community.
Another key reason for my indicating that MACA is a key department is because of their involvement with the youth. It’s not cut and dry, because MACA is not totally responsible for the youth, although the Minister is. I’m somehow hoping that there’s greater emphasis placed just on the youth budget alone, to have some staff applying some sort of constant effort into addressing the issues of the youth.
I’ve indicated in the House that I see huge, positive results of dealing with our youth today. I think we will see positive results in the communities in the future. I think that everyone who’s elected to the
House has the understanding that if we don’t address the issues with the youth, then our social costs of addressing the youth in the future…. The youth we don’t assist today could have become more productive citizens in the future, the adults who are running our communities in the future.
I’m hoping this government is the government that turns around and places more emphasis on the youth and starts to do serious things, such as getting proper recreation into the communities and making sure they’re working with the youth and that they have the youth workers in the community working with them. I think that at the end of the day, you could see positive results, such as reducing the costs toward the Department of Justice in housing young offenders in a couple of locations here in the Territories.
The healthier youth would also benefit all aspects of this government, including Health and Social Services, Education, in the income support area, the public housing area with the Housing Corporation, the home ownership area. As soon as a youth becomes an adult and becomes a productive adult who’s able to pay their own way, it’s one more family or one more person, whichever way we want to look at it, who comes off the government social system and starts to contribute their fair share to society, as ideally it should work; we all pay taxes and we all contribute to society. Then individuals who are in need, in legitimate need, are the individuals who will get assistance — people who can’t or don’t have options of working and so on.
This government has to be able to put the money in with the youth, maybe pay a little bit up front to save a lot of money down the road. It’s something I’ve advocated in the House almost since day one. That’s something that is essential and important. It’s something we shouldn’t miss the boat on. I’m not sure the government will be ready from now until March 31, 2009, to make this shift, but I’m hoping that in the budgets coming up in the near future this government is able to do that.
That’s all I have, Mr. Chair.