SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
There's no quick fix to improving homelessness and poverty rates in the territory, according to Health and Social Services deputy minister Debbie DeLancey.

Mayor Mark Heyck attends the third-annual Anti-Poverty Roundtable at the Explorer Hotel last Thursday. - Evan Kiyoshi French/NNSL photo

Speaking during a break at the 3rd Anti-Poverty Roundtable - held at the Explorer Hotel last Wednesday and Thursday - DeLancey said addressing problems keeping many territorial residents impoverished will take time and a concentrated effort by all levels of government.

"Poverty is complex," she said. "There are many causes, there's no one solution."

DeLancey said getting the territorial government and other interest groups working in concert was the goal of the third roundtable.

"This year, the focus has been on sharing success from our communities and regions, instead of having external resource people or experts from outside the NWT," she said. "It's been all about the communities and regions that are doing projects , sharing success, sharing ideas and really building on momentum of the last two years."

Around 100 people from communities around the territory attended the event, including politicians, GNWT staff, charity group representatives and more. Yellowknife agencies represented included the John Howard Society, SideDoor Youth Centre and the NWT Disabilities Council.

"We need to keep working in partnership," said DeLancey. "No level of government can solve it themselves. We need to listen to the solutions that the communities come up with."

Living wage project sees some success

DeLancey said positive steps have been made this year. Alternatives North's living wage project signed seven Yellowknife employers to a plan committing them to pay their employees a living wage - around $20 per hour - much more than the territorial minimum wage at $12.50.

Aggie Brockman - who presented the program to roundtable attendees on behalf of Alternatives North - stated the living wage figure gives employers a benchmark to figure out if they're paying employees enough to get by.

"Employer buy-in and recognition is important," Brockman wrote in an e-mail. According to a document outlining the project so far, some employers - beyond the seven signed up - have agreed to look at ways they could work to increase their wages closer to the living wage number and Alternatives North is still looking to court more employers to sign on to the plan.

Mayor Mark Heyck - who attended the afternoon session of the roundtable - said attendees discussed the need to identify indicators of success "so we can actually measure progress."

"There was some discussion during one of the sessions that the department is looking to work with the federal government. They want to create an antipoverty strategy nationwide and come up with a common set of indicators so we don't have different governments measuring different things," said Heyck.

"So our hope and I think the hope of many people in the audience is that that work will begin immediately."