Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this motion goes to the most basic of our Territory’s needs, that of supporting our people, and it goes to the heart of the philosophy that this government espouses.
According to our strategic planning document from October of 2007, we aim for healthy, educated people. We will accomplish that, we said in October 2007, by a focus on prevention by promoting healthy choices and lifestyles and the role of personal and family responsibility. A focus on prevention, like teaching kids what healthy foods are so they eat the right things and grow and develop as they should, like making sure they get to and stay in school so they learn well and easily. Promoting healthy choices and lifestyles, like teaching kids what unhealthy foods are so they choose the right foods to eat. Knowing which foods are good and which are not is important and kids must be taught the difference.
The other day I mentioned comments from NWT schools about the Healthy Food for Learning Program, Mr. Speaker. There are six pages of responses to one simple question: Can you share any specific success stories about the program? Thirty of our 49 schools sent in a response to that
question. I’d say that’s an excellent indication that the program is a success. Twenty-three schools mentioned improved attendance as a result of the Healthy Foods for Learning Program. Academic achievement was mentioned 21 times as a measure of success. Eleven schools indicated that 50 percent or more of their student population comes to school hungry each morning. These are staggering statistics, Mr. Speaker, especially the last one.
Children don’t learn well, if at all, when they are hungry. They’re inattentive, not alert and are often disruptive, affecting the learning of others as well as themselves. Healthy, educated people, Mr. Speaker. The Healthy Foods for Learning Program goes a long way towards creating both healthy children and educated children. Witness a comment from one school which said this of a student: She has discovered that being in school and not missing instruction leads to school being easier. That’s what we want, Mr. Speaker, kids at school so they can learn. They sure don’t learn when they’re not in the classroom.
Both improved attendance and academic achievement are stated goals of the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, a major focus of the Education, Culture and Employment department at the moment. How then can this department eliminate funding for a program that will achieve the successes desired by the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative? That initiative wants better attendance. Well, this program achieves that. That initiative wants academic achievement. Well, this program achieves that too.
What evaluation of the Healthy Foods for Learning Program was done prior to the decision to scrap it? It can’t have been too comprehensive. My information shows that at least 30 of 49 schools think that the program is a success. I can only attribute the elimination of this funding to a lack of foresight and big picture vision.
This Assembly has just approved a budget which includes $1.8 million for the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, an increase of $500,000 from the current year budget, and much of that increase is going to staffing. In light of the success of the Healthy Foods for Learning Program, I have to say that the money would be better spent on the foods program.
We have to stop working top down, Mr. Speaker. We have to remember the basics. Educating our kids is paramount, and if the foods program helps us to get them to the school, then we should ensure that the program continues. Eliminating the funding for a successful, much needed foods program will not achieve healthy, educated people. Reduced funding will not contribute to the promotion of healthy choices and lifestyles. Another quote from a 42-year veteran of parenting and foster parenting
about the needs for foods programs: I cannot think of another single initiative that gives so much for so little.
The answer to the question of whether or not to reinstate the funding for the Healthy Foods for Learning Program in the 2011-12 budget is a no brainer, Mr. Speaker. Considering the negative impacts on our children and for our Territory in the long run if we don’t reinstate the funding, the answer can only be yes. I believe in the saying where there’s a will, there’s a way, and it remains to be seen if there is a will on the part of this government to find a way to continue the funding for the Healthy Foods for Learning Program. Children are our most precious resource. They are our future. Are they not worth the money? Thank you.