I have two things I've been making notes to myself about as you were talking.
One relates to statistics and research. You were talking about the cost of food, and there's been some recent work about the market basket, the basic food basket, what it costs and what should be in it, and, since some of the things that are in it aren't even accessible in the north, what the substitutions are. There have been consultations about that, so we're hopeful there will be a realistic basket done to do analysis of the cost of living in the north. That speaks to a lot of research.
I noticed a couple of people looked perplexed when Julie said something about not having statistics. Because of our size, when Statistics Canada does various surveys, we're too small, so the statistics aren't reliable. There aren't statistics on the Yukon or on the north for a lot of things. I see your analyst is nodding, so she's looked at this and seen this.
To work to find ways so that we can get better comparative research, our territorial government statistics branch does some things, but it's very hard to place us nationally the way research is done at the national level, because national research so often doesn't include the north. That's a piece that the federal government legitimately has a role in trying to remedy.
Another thing we were talking about is supports to people and the nature of work. Another piece that's unique in the north that we haven't really touched on, although maybe Amy could say more about it, is FASD, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. I think everybody acknowledges this is more prevalent in the north than in southern Canada, and it has huge consequences for the lifelong limitations of people with FASD. Granted, it's a spectrum and the limitations vary with people, but there are lifelong limitations that require tremendous amounts of ongoing support; otherwise these people are basically either dead or in the correctional system. So we need a huge recognition of that.
That's a bit of a ramble, but those are the things I've been noting.