Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, many residents, including youth, want to maintain their chosen lifestyle in their home communities. One of our biggest challenges as a territory is to support a small population in many communities across a vast area. How do we provide employment and create prosperity? Our small communities face high unemployment. There are some government jobs and often not too much else. Government programs can help, but people want independence. The real issue is the lack of jobs.
Our mandate directs us to diversify the economy, and good work is happening around new strategies in areas like agriculture, tourism, knowledge, innovation, and creative arts. Today's youth will benefit from this diversification in just a few years, but we need to think outside the box to provide more opportunity. Youth need support, training, and encouragement to move into trades and life skills, entrepreneurship and business, academia, and even the sciences.
No doubt we live in an interesting time. A few years ago, we talked about the information age. Now it is becoming known as the age of acceleration. When I was in school, I could spend days, even weeks, researching a certain subject. Today the world's knowledge is at our fingertips and can be searched in seconds.
Mr. Speaker, a few days ago in my Member's statement I imagined a young woman who thinks up an app to teach her traditional language, and I suggested that she might earn an income from that idea. The challenge is: how does she get from here to there? She has talent, creativity, and skill. She has all the information in the world on her smartphone, but how does she gather, select, and apply that knowledge to build something, Mr. Speaker? This young woman might know how to write code and create an app, but does she know how to write a business plan to share her idea with the world?
Mr. Speaker, we are opening new areas in our economy. For that to pay off, we must find ways to support our young people. We need to help them overcome barriers that are holding them back. We need to facilitate networking and partnerships to build on knowledge and new technologies. That young woman's concept needs our support to grow into a full-fledged creation.
Mr. Speaker, I started out talking about creating jobs in the small communities. I am ending with support for young people. Why? Because supporting young people and their creative ideas will help our communities develop and prosper. Later, I will have questions for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.