Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to give you some background on this motion. Starting in 2009, a group of non-profit organizations from around the Northwest Territories came together to lobby the government to create an Anti-Poverty Action Plan, and during the 17th Assembly that strategic framework was completed. Following on with that, then two action plans were developed, one by the GNWT reflecting the commitments of various departments that serve people in poverty, and another by a multi-stakeholder group of which I was part that then came up with the Territorial Anti-Poverty Action Plan, which was tabled in the Legislature in June of last year. The Territorial Anti-Poverty Action Plan has been administering an anti-poverty fund for the last two years of approximately $500,000, in which there is a call for proposals to address poverty at the grassroots level. It has been taken up by small communities to address their most immediate needs, often around food, the production of food, or the harvesting of food. The point of this amendment is to draw attention to the fact that this work is ongoing and that we want to talk about poverty in a more general sense than only the effects on children, although it is important to say that children are disproportionately affected by poverty. In the NWT, the 2010 tax filer data for the NWT says that as many as 30 per cent of children throughout the whole territory are living with low income. We know from the number of meals that are served by organizations like Breakfast for Learning that food is a major issue for children. All of that to say we need to continue the good work that's being done, both within the government and by the Territorial Anti-Poverty Action Plan to combat this scourge. Thank you.
Julie Green on Committee Motion 19-18(2): Tabled Document 1-18(2): Proposed Mandate Of The Government Of The Northwest Territories, 2016-2019, Addition Of Text Regarding The Territorial Anti-Poverty Action Plan And Deletion Of Text Regarding The Anti-Poverty Strategic Framework, Carried
In the Legislative Assembly on February 24th, 2016. See this statement in context.
Committee Motion 19-18(2): Tabled Document 1-18(2): Proposed Mandate Of The Government Of The Northwest Territories, 2016-2019, Addition Of Text Regarding The Territorial Anti-Poverty Action Plan And Deletion Of Text Regarding The Anti-Poverty Strategic Framework, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
February 24th, 2016
See context to find out what was said next.