Mr. Chairman, first of all I would like to thank Ms. Balanoff for a very informative presentation. I know she's done a lot of work in this whole area for a long time. She deserves a lot of credit. She did a very good job. The Premier and the government also have to get some recognition for the reorganization of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. I think this particular reorganization was the right one. It was a good one and it brings together the proper resources to deal with a lot of the problems that are facing us in the territories.

Mr. Nerysoo comes to the portfolio as a very experienced Minister. He's got a long-range perspective on the north in politics and how a Minister functions. Mr. Gerein, who I've known for a long time, is, I think, one of our most able and thoughtful deputy ministers. I think the team is in place to do some very good things in this area. I think we have to go back a little bit when I'm giving some credit here. I think Mr. Kakfwi and Mr. Handley did a lot to set the scene to get us to where we are right now. They provided a pretty solid base that the new team can jump off from.

We talked about excellence and there are a lot of good ideas in this discussion paper. I think Charles has said, very well, that now the time has come to put these ideas into a format where we can start to get results. The two major components, to me, of any education strategy are as follows. The first one is excellence. We've talked a lot about that. The other one is one that is sometimes forgotten, and any success in education comes through a partnership with parents, administration, teachers, boards and the Legislative Assembly. They all have to work together. But, there has to be always one test that you put any policy through and that is, is it good for the student?

What happens a lot of time is that policies can be good for the politicians because they look good. Or it could be good for the bureaucrats because it facilitates the bureaucratic process. Or it can be good for the administrators because whatever their pecking orders may be, it is good for that. A lot of times we lose that primary focus. To me, any policy, any objective, goal or strategy put in place always has to pass that test. Will it lead us to excellence and is it best for the student? I think if you keep those as the fundamental basics, it would be pretty hard to go wrong.

What I see coming from this is a tremendous amount of discussion, dialogue and consultation. We've done a lot of that. I think what the Minister needs right now is a short, strong agenda with really tight time frames that is really action-oriented, as well as definitive objectives with accountability built in. I think the Minister has to move fast and move hard on this. I think it's so important now, and it's important in both the east and the west. In the east, moving into a new territory, it is important to set the scene for this as a major priority, to say these are our objectives. That should translate into either territory. I applaud the work that has been done by the department. My only advice is that now is the time for strong action. Thank you, very much.