Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to speak on a very successful program that this
government has initiated over the last few years and that’s the NWT Youth Ambassador Program.
For those who don’t really know about the program, it’s just a guided and structural volunteer experience for NWT youth that provides the opportunity to develop significant life and job skills. Two programs that they’ve developed – and I believe the second one came out after running the first program successfully – is, first of all, just the Youth Ambassador Program. But what I’ve seen that was more evident – over this past weekend I went and checked out some of the training with the Minister and looked at our youth ambassadors getting prepared for this summer’s Pan Am Games and Parapan Am Games – was the Youth Ambassador mentorship program, where our youth ambassadors who have gone through the program are actually mentors and actually instructing and leading this program now. So, we are getting young leaders teaching young leaders on all these great life and job skills, and how to go out and promote the Northwest Territories and all that the NWT has to offer, be great ambassadors, but also show our culture and our traditions and the great hospitality that Northerners do have.
Last night I was at the Traditional Games component in Inuvik, and it was great watching the youth ambassadors helping their peers develop and understand some of these cultural games. These are just young leaders, as I said, promoting our culture and our traditions to other Northerners and also people across Canada as they participate in many, many events: NWT Days, for one; the royal visit, Olympics. This summer they’ll be at the Pan Am Games and the Parapan Am Games, as I mentioned.
One thing that was brought to my attention is where are the youth ambassadors who initially started this up? We hear things that they’re counsellors, they’re community leaders, they’re professionals now who have gone through education and volunteering. It was really great to see some of these youth who I, in my previous job, worked with and seeing them take it to an extra level.
We have a lot of youth in the NWT who excel in arts, sports, academics, hunting, trapping. This program takes it one step further. It takes all of their strong characteristics and helps build the life skills that they need to succeed in life.
I will have questions for the Minister later on today.