Thank you, Mr. Chairman. What I have here in my hands is the Early Childhood Development Framework of the Northwest Territories. In this framework we have seven commitments made by both the Department of Health and Social Services and Education, Culture and Employment. Within these seven commitments, we have 22 areas of action and underneath that, 39 deliverables and somewhere in the area of about 82 targets. I’m not sure if I counted them right. That’s just for this year alone,
so moving forward I have a lot of questions about where we should be putting dollars.
When I look at these commitments, areas of action, deliverables and targets, I’m feeling that we’re not sure if the department has enough dollars to meet the needs in this upcoming fiscal year.
There is a strong link between health and education. What’s been reported from experience during the early years with education strongly influences lifelong health as well as learning.
In reading what other frameworks have shown, “Quality early learning experiences have the potential to improve children’s overall health and well-being for a lifetime. Similarly, children who are healthy tend to learn better, further underlying this connection.”
So, I’m just trying to support what the department is doing. I’ve given them acknowledgement and recognition at the start of this discussion today. We just want to continue to further support and ensure that this department and government have the necessary resources to enact this action plan with early childhood development. I am obviously in favour of the motion. I would encourage other Members to speak to it as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.