Thank you, Mr. Speaker and honourable Members. These students have been eligible for an education leave benefit so that they can attend teacher training without their families suffering the full loss of their income. The benefit was added to their student financial assistance so that they received about 80 per cent of what they earned in the schools. This allowed them to train to be teachers and still continue to feed their families.

Mr. Speaker, it now turns out that the Department of Education has decided that it will not provide this benefit to any more students who want to take teacher education. In the Keewatin, there are 12 students who could join the teacher education project in its second year to get their diploma. The reason why they are eligible to join the second year is they had begun to study to become teachers before the project even started. The department now tells them that they will not receive the benefit to help support their families that the other students in the project receive. This decision defeats the purpose of the projects. These are obviously motivated people with experience who want to teach, and they are being penalized for their initiative.

Mr. Speaker, the department must change its position and allow these students to train to be teachers; to deny them the benefit is a short-term answer. We will all lose in the long run. The Northwest Territories will have to continue to import teachers, and the students, who need aboriginal teachers who care about their culture, language and community, will take second place again.

The department must reconsider its plans to terminate the Keewatin project after its second year. The department has tried field projects before to involve more aboriginal people in teacher training. In 1981 and 1986 both attempts failed. This is a project that is working and will save the department money in the long run. The government has announced that it is committed to decentralization, allowing programs to be delivered closer to the people they serve. This is a chance to achieve what the government says it wants by holding on to something that works. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.