Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I brought this motion to the floor of the House because I believe poverty is a huge issue in the NWT and I believe this government can do better in our efforts to eradicate poverty. We already have a number of programs and services in place, programs and services whose goal it is to assist those residents of ours who are marginalized, to reduce the level and amount of poverty in our Territory. But these many activities are not coordinated across our government system and they are not coordinated with the activities and non-government organizations and local governments.

Currently there are gaps in the services that are available to our residents. There are holes in the poverty safety net. By working together, we can close those gaps, mend those holes and accomplish so much more. A comprehensive targeted strategy to address poverty in the NWT is what is needed.

The preamble to the motion mentions some poverty statistics. About 10 percent of Canadians live in poverty. In the NWT’s smaller communities, up to 50 percent of our households have a total income of less than $30,000 per year. Too many of our people either live in poverty or very close to the edge of it, Mr. Speaker.

Right now, I think everybody should agree that poverty has an impact on our systems and on our residents. The causes and effects are well documented. Again, I quote from the motion’s preamble, “health indicators, educational achievements, child apprehension rates and family violence can be directly related to poverty.”

For the GNWT, these effects of poverty on our residents puts added stress and strain on our health system, our social service system, our justice system and our education system. If we work together to eliminate or even reduce poverty experienced by our people, the results will be positive, both by a financial perspective and a

human one. But in order to achieve those results, we need a comprehensive targeted strategy to address poverty in the NWT.

There is no need to reinvent the wheel, either, Mr. Speaker. Six Canadian provinces have adopted anti-poverty strategies and two more are in the throes of doing so. There are several provincial strategies which we can use as a template for our own NWT one. I am advised that the Newfoundland and Labrador strategy in particular is one that we should look at with the view of using it as a foundation or base document for the development of our own strategy.

This motion calls for the Premier to initiate discussions to develop an NWT Anti-Poverty Strategy. But it emphasizes that any development must be done in partnership, in conjunction with business, organizations and those living in poverty. The development of a strategy without the involvement of these groups is a strategy destined to fail. So let’s not do that, please.

The motion also calls for the development of a definition of poverty, a definition that applies to the NWT. It’s something which does not exist at the moment and we can hardly initiate an attack on poverty if we don’t have a clear definition of the target of the attack.

The other element that must be part of any discussion is the identification of a tool to adequately measure poverty. Several measures exist throughout Canada but none applies particularly well to the NWT and there’s no agreed on measure of poverty that is used consistently throughout the government.

Mr. Speaker, every NWT person has the right to live well. The goals and the priorities of this 16th Legislative Assembly speak to healthy, educated people. We need to add to these goals. We need to make the eradication of poverty in the NWT a priority goal. This motion will get us started on that road, Mr. Speaker. I urge all Members of this House to support this motion which can only benefit our residents. Thank you.