Thank you, Mr. Speaker-elect. These consensus government leaders' debates can get a little boring sometimes because often we're all on the same page and often we're all saying the same thing. We all recognize the importance of language.
Being in this House for the last four years, I've seen the growth of the use of language, and it's inspiring. I think that we need to see that across the territory, and I agree that we need to do a better job partnering with Indigenous governments, giving them the lead, perhaps, in this. We need to better raise our profile so that, when we go to the federal government, we can get more of those funds. Language isn't just a way to communicate. It's culture. If you have a stronger connection to your culture, you have better mental health outcomes, better education outcomes. If we are teaching children multiple languages when they're young, that does wonders for them. I know in Hay River, they attempted an intensive Dene Yatie program to complement their intensive French program, but they couldn't get the instructors to do 80 percent of the course load in Dene that they needed. We need to do more in order to do better. I've heard good ideas around the table here, and, going forward, I'd be happy to work with everyone and implement those.
Personally, I have a connection to this, as well, because my grandpa spoke Cree, Chip, English, and French. I spoke a little bit of French in high school, but right now, I'm just English, so I see how quickly how all of that can be lost, and we need to take action. Thank you, Mr. Speaker-elect.