Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are large health disparities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations in residents across Canada. Poor health outcomes in the proportionately larger Aboriginal population here in the Northwest Territories, compared to other jurisdictions, is influencing the overall results in the NWT.

To be clear, the Conference Board of Canada’s report, How Canada Performs: A Report Card on Canada, measures health outcomes based on 10 indicators which evaluate health outcomes as opposed to health care systems. Health outcomes are primarily influenced by socio-economic conditions, such as education, housing, income or employment, which are the responsibilities of multiple departments here in the Government of the Northwest Territories. To that end, the government, in cooperation with the social programs as well as economic development, have been working on a number of action plans including the Mineral Development Action Plan, the Economic Development Action Plan, the Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan, the Action Plan on Anti-Poverty, following up on the NWT Anti-Poverty Framework as well as early childhood development. A number of things are being done in this area to help improve these outcomes over time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.