Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out a way to work my agricultural policy Member’s statement into a question to someone on the other side of the House. I think I’m going to direct it to the Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, I have listened to my colleague again today and many, many times in the past, Mr. Yakeleya, talk about the cost of living regarding food in the communities. I, first of all, have to thank the government for the initiatives they have taken. There is an employee in Hay River who works for ITI. His name is Gene Hachey. He is overseeing an NWT Community Gardening Program and this can be expanded. This is one little aspect of agriculture in the Northwest Territories.
But, Mr. Speaker, I have come across a letter that has been provided to me and I would like to just read a little excerpt from it. This is from a very well-known Northerner, Ruby Jumbo, and she’s saying that Somba Ke is developing a wellness plan, and during the first phase community members want to develop a three-year wellness program. As nutrition was identified as a priority, we are seeking help to investigate the possibilities of developing agriculture in our community. So I found that the Minister’s questions today in response to Mr. Yakeleya were very interesting, because we sit here on our high horse and say everybody should be making healthy choices, they should be buying nutritious food, they should stay away from junk food. But the reality of it is that in a lot of the communities that are off road and in remote regions, the cost of those nutritious foods can be prohibitive, and we have communities that are now reaching to this government and saying nutrition is a priority, we think we could grow some of our own food.
I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services if there’s any correlation between the activities of his department to increase and encourage healthy eating and nutrition with the activities of ITI, for example, with regard to market gardening and growing food in the North for Northerners. Thank you.