Sunday, August 26, 2012

Harper leaves North pledging funds, but social issues remain

I have criticised Stephen Harper (and probably will do so again) but in fairness to him, he has made the North a greater priority than his predecessors;  yes, there is much work to be done (housing, food security, education, language protection, racism - yes that is still an issue - health care and economic growth within a sustainable environment) but at least there is a desire to do it:

Tapping those resources, as the federal government believes, could not only provide jobs and income, but also help address the high cost of living in the North, a lack of infra-structure in the region, and, in Nunavut and Whitehorse, a growing demand for housing.

Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak said in some cases, there are two or three families living under one roof. "Housing touches upon a whole lot of other things. Everything is connected. If someone has a roof over their heads, children, education, job prospects, all of these things are connected."

"For me to say that, we also have huge opportunities," she said, citing as examples the mining opportunities in the territory, the melting sea ice opening shipping lanes in Lancaster Sound and the Northwest Passage


Read more: Story here

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

He loves to talk about the north, but it never seems to turn into concrete action. Hopefully there is action this time.

James C Morton said...

Fair nuff