(Translation) I rise today to speak about employment. As we are all aware, we are having more and more difficulty receiving more money from Ottawa for various programs and government operations.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I would like to say that there have been a lot of comments made here during this session at the Legislative Assembly. Mr. Speaker, I will use myself as an example; even though I don't speak English at all, I have been able to operate heavy equipment for many years. Mr. Speaker, right now, there are so many more requirements that have been placed upon people, in terms of education, certification, et cetera. Even though many of us have never received any formal education or training programs, we were able to operate various mechanical equipment.
Mr. Speaker, we are becoming very concerned as there are more government cutbacks. There are people who are already residents in the NWT; I think that if we are going to increase employment for these people, they have to receive training. Then there will be more local people taking on jobs that open up in the communities. I think that we should be pursuing this with more vigour in the future, so that our young people and our local residents are receiving the training and are being given the first priority to be hired when jobs open up in their communities and in the north. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause