Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have no doubt that the Members on the other side are... They are well intentioned; they want to do what is right for the children and increase support to the children and their nutrition programs. Perhaps it would have been better if we worded this not as a committee but nutritious food project, because this is something that all the Members have been asking for and this is what the intent of this money is, and the Department of Health and Social Services is working in partnership with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to see this project through.
Details have not been worked out because this is a new program and you don’t want to work out all of the details before the money is approved. But I can tell you that’s how we foresee this working is the Department of Health and Social Services and ECE working with NGOs like the NWT Food First Foundation. I think it’s a group that lots of people are familiar with. They are strong advocates for increasing support to children and their food needs, and other groups involved in school boards to enhance what we already have.
I don’t know if the Members know there are 47 schools across the NWT, 49, and most of them have some kind of breakfast program, even in Yellowknife. I was doing a tour of St. Joes and they were excited about enhancing their kitchen facility, because we have the largest population of aboriginal kids and non-aboriginal kids who are not always getting breakfast in the morning, and they get support from other NGO groups to do that.
So I do believe that this is a program that the Members are looking for. It might have been misnamed, but I would really encourage the Members to not delete it, because we know a motion to delete is final; the money is gone and any other ideas to bring it back works in different channels. I think it would be better if we keep this money in there and Minister Lafferty and myself could work with the committee to finalize the plan. I think we could work to enhance what’s already there.
I could also tell you that the Department of Health and Social Services has Healthy Foods North, for example. There are active groups on the ground who are reviewing traditional food and aboriginal food for their nutritious value. So this will allow us to tie it all together.
I want to say one more thing. I think, when we are talking about healthy food for children, we need to look beyond milk. I know milk is important, but milk is not necessarily something that everybody is used to drinking or something they have grown up with and there are some people who are allergic to milk. I’ve never grown up with milk. Milk is not something I grab for first thing. I’ve had information from community people that said they would rather see that we focus our energy on programs that enhance nutrition for children on a wider basis than just milk, because we know there are other foods like fish that could be a source of calcium. We also know that children need food that enhances vitamin D and other necessary nutrients. So I would just close by saying that I would urge Members to not delete this money, but accept our commitment that we will work with you to work out the details. Thank you.