Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) I want to say a few things today. My honourable colleague, the Minister of Education, mentioned something about literacy and I think that one of the most important things is having the ability to learn your own language, or speak in your own language.
When I was a child I only spoke in my first language and learned how to speak English only after attending school. So what he mentioned today about literacy I really understood. Another comment that was made today was about the Minister's Financial Budget Report. This Monday we are going to start addressing certain things concerning the financial budget and I wanted to say a few things that are concerning my constituency then.
A while ago, in Fort Simpson, August 17 of this year, there was a meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance. Whoever was sitting on this committee had visited me in Fort Simpson to discuss this, and we also went to the village of Nahanni Butte. It seems like the residents of that community are not hurt by the government. They never see government officials flying over to their community, so it was quite a surprise for them when we showed up in Nahanni.
However, we met with them for a while and we did home visits. This is why I think that the government officials should visit communities more often. Also, what Sam...