Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to thank the mover, Mr. Bromley, for bringing this forward, and colleagues for speaking on it at this point.
I think the motion itself speaks to the most vulnerable in society who need help, people with disabilities. I can safely say that there a few of my relatives who are disabled and it's disheartening to see them struggle, especially at the community level when the programs and services are very limited at the same time and when services like handivan services are basically stopped for one community because another community can't afford to maintain those services. It's rather sad that with this government we can't do that and then people have no recourse but to look at perhaps the federal government to step in and see if those services could be delivered to them.
Also, at the same time, we have to think carefully about our priorities. We lend resources to big infrastructure projects, but at the same time, social needs such as this are something that we didn't really intend perhaps to not consider, but it just so happens that's how government is run, is that there are limited fiscal resources. So there are challenges, but we need to think carefully about our priorities and ensure that we're pulling all the right cords in the right direction.
At the community level, a disability is a very big challenge. In larger centres like Yellowknife you have all the services here. In smaller communities people are basically left to fend for themselves if they're disabled and, unfortunately, families have to become caretakers, relatives, uncles, sisters, aunts. That's how it is at the community level, but what's most disappointing is the inaction of the period of time when this was sitting on someone's table or someone's desk and collected dust. We need to move on this initiative in terms of addressing the needs of disabled persons in the NWT.
So, today I speak in favour of this motion and I'm hoping all of my colleagues will stand in support of it too. Mahsi.