Thank you, Madam Chair.
Once again, thanks to everyone for being here and sharing your wisdom with us and with this committee. I would be remiss not to say that I'm substituting for our critic, Irene Mathyssen, who was unable to be here.
Having grown up in a medium-sized northern community, I've seen the progression, and I agree very much with Lyda. My experience has been that the improvement in housing has been a very important part of any community development. I saw in my community that as housing improved, the situation improved. We also had champions. Sister Sutherland was a champion for women's shelters and for the family. That in a smaller community really provides a lot.... Larger communities might have more agencies and boards.
One other thing I want to mention in terms of smaller communities is inter-agency groups. We had a very successful inter-agency group that brought together not only the social groups but the schools, the RCMP, and the bands once a month to speak to these issues in the community. They tried to take a holistic approach to what they were doing with their funds and their direction in dealing with social issues of all kinds. Sometimes you have more resources in a medium-sized community that may be able to be accessed through that medium.
I don't have the experience in a small community like you have, Therese, in Fort Resolution. I'd really like you to talk about a small community, how these issues have evolved over your lifetime, what successful directions you can take, and what hasn't worked in your small community.