Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I guess maybe I could be accused of being old fashioned, but I am not convinced that the amount of dollars that we have been expanding in the Department of Education, and the fact that we are getting 25 percent turn out is satisfactory.
I am not convinced that we should continue to spend enormous countless sums of money, and the building of schools -- last year I think it was $43 million dollars -- without some second opinions, and some second guessing as it relates to how successful that type of program is going to be.
It is incomprehensible to me, when I look at some of this statistical information as it relates to grade 12, that over a five year period in some of these communities, we have only generated some three or four successful graduates in grade 12.
Something is fundamentally wrong, and we have to ask ourselves that. I am not talking about spending less money. I am talking about, are we spending our money in the right way and the right manner, and is it getting the kind of results that we all want? Whether it is my kids, or your kids, we are all affected by the quality of education. Society as a whole is affected by it.
There are those of different opinion, and I believe on a number of occasions they have expressed it, particularly when I talk about my disappointment with the kind of return, if you want, for the investment. Clearly, in my opinion, anyway, we need to look very closely at what we are doing. The whole future of the north hinges upon an educated society, whether you are here, whether you are in Ontario, whether you are anywhere else in the free world.
Can I continue, with the kind of results we have got, and expect the other policies initiatives of this government to work, whether it is the Business Incentive Policy, or whether it is getting northerners into the jobs? You have got to go back to the basics, and we have to ask ourselves, "are we going to continue to spend $183 million on the one hand, $40 or $50 million on an annual basis for new infrastructure, $30 million for Arctic College?" This initiative affects us all, and all I am asking for is a debate on the issue. I do not want to be accused of being an education basher because I question what is going on, I have got a valid right here to ask a fundamental question. Is the education that our kids are getting, and the cost of this government, having the impact that we expect it to have?
In my opinion, it is not doing exactly that. Out of the 25 percent of kids that graduate out of grade 12, I would be interested to know how many are aboriginal, for example. How many come from the west, and how many come from the east? If we are going such a damn good job, excuse me, can somebody tell me how come all the outsiders in the government in my community keep getting the jobs? If we are doing such a good job, then how come we have not got the carpenters, the butchers, the bakers, and the candlestick makers? We are running out of time, Mr. Allooloo, and we are spending a lot of money trying to get results? We are simply running out of time. We need a review. We need to take a look at what is going on, and we need to ask, are we getting value for our money. It is not a question of reducing the budget. It is a question of looking at how we are spending it, and is it the acquisition of assets? Is it building buildings, or is it the building people, in my opinion, we should look into building people. We need to take a complete review of what is going on, and I believe that is being undertaken. We have already said to the new Minister, that we are prepared to give him that time, but it cannot go on forever. We have to find some ways and means to improve what we are doing out there in terms of the students, and our children, not just for today, but for tomorrow, and for the next day.
Just for the record, I have got to express, my kids were educated in Cambridge Bay, Rankin Inlet, Iqaluit, Pond Inlet, and Yellowknife. I have no objections to the school system in terms of teachers or infrastructure, but something is fundamentally wrong. I do not know what it is, but I am prepared to work hard to try to identify what it is. I tell you, as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Finance, I cannot continue to support large expenditures of money if we are not going to get a better return for our investment. Thank you.