Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]
Mr. Speaker, in 2012, the GNWT laid the groundwork for its anti-poverty plan. One press release described it as our "tattered social safety net." It was three more years before we got an action plan called, Working Together.
Now five years have passed. Forget the tattered social safety net -- we are in fiscal restraint these days. Yet Northerners living in poverty still have not seen enduring improvements.
It is not for a lack of trying, but for the lack of coordination and new investment. NGOs, community groups, and public servants work hard, but often, it seems, at cross-purposes.
They are under-funded and limping along with annual roundtables and status quo anti-poverty funding of just $500,000 per year spread over 33 communities.
The problem is that there is no functional overarching government plan, no 14-department strategic attack on poverty. Prenatal work happens over here, with Right From the Start, but work with youth mental health happens over there, with an action plan under Mind and Spirit.
Who makes sure that these initiatives tie back to the anti-poverty goals?
Working Together was supposed to coordinate efforts and evolve over time, but it is full of references to work that was already done and under way, not new work or new money.
For example, the first plan prioritized better funding for grade school, but the government resists fully funding junior kindergarten.
The second plan said the rent supplement program should address unaffordable housing. Housing is still too expensive, while the budget in 2017 shrinks the program by $300,000.
Third, it recommended that the GNWT address barriers to jobs in small communities. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted