Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a few comments relating to this budget. There are a few comments I want to make in defence of Arctic College. I recognize the concerns my colleague for Iqaluit has put forth. First of all, if there is a lack of trades in College East as there is in College West, I want to advise the Minister that if he is going to make any movement to address that inequity, he should ensure that it doesn't hinder the standards that that college has tried to achieve for so many years; just for the sake of putting trades in there.
We all know the campus in Fort Smith was developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It isn't something that you can just put in and expect to run. It is ironic because I remember when I first became a Member and Mr. Patterson was the Minister of Education, he was the very Minister who was going to take away that heavy equipment program. We suggested that he modify it, so he could continue with it. There is no doubt that the instructors are more than happy to go into the different communities, and they have been. I don't think it is fair to expect everything. This whole split into east and west is only being done now. It takes a long time for it to build into an institution.
I am concerned with the fact that there are complaints about inequities. There are inequities in programs, but these programs have taken a long time to develop and they will probably continue to develop. They have had different standards to achieve. Furthermore, these programs can't be placed all over where their standards are going to be hindered or diluted in any way.
Mr. Chairman, I did want to state one thing with regard to the college. There is one area I have noticed a lack of movement in; that is, with respect to acquiring aboriginal people as instructors. That is one area the Minister and the college have to work towards. I think they could possibly look at some kind of training program, perhaps something similar to what TEP is doing. They are trying to bring northern native teachers into the schools. If you even look at the management studies program or any type of academic studies program, back to the early 1980s, I don't think there are any aboriginal people who are instructors in those programs. This is the type of thing the college should be working to develop.
Mr. Chairman, the other area with respect to the college is we have to stop bringing in instructors from the south for short periods of time. This has been happening in my campus for the past four or five years. I bring it to the Minister's attention every year. There is no movement, and that comes back to training again, to be able to stop bringing in people from the south to deliver certain courses. It seems that there is an attitude of accessing whoever they know who can deliver the course. That is easier than looking at the long-term solution of training someone locally. In this case, it is an electrician instructor and there are many electricians in Fort Smith. The component of the instruction course is one area electricians can look at trying to achieve.
Mr. Chairman, I want to state that I am very pleased to hear the Minister state that he was going to bring in the Education Act. The modification of that particular act certainly needs to be addressed. We have all agreed that the act is very archaic. There have been many concerns with respect to education. In our area, the South Slave Division Board of Education is in a real deficit situation. I continually wrote letters to the Minister and it wasn't until we asked for a financial audit, that there was enough for the department to justify moving in on the South Slave Division Board of Education and saying their expenditures weren't done properly. Now, as parents in the South Slave area, we have to face a $2 million deficit for that board. The department says you have to try to address this deficit. I was told that a good portion of that deficit is because the South Slave is an area where there is a long tenure of teachers for the Education department. Apparently, the retirement program has put some strain on the debt and increased it because of the long tenure teachers have there. There should be some method in Education to address that long tenure, so we can alleviate the debt for the South Slave Divisional Board of Education.
There is another area with respect to the debt; when the act is being modified, it has to address these type of abuses of financial expenditures when they are done by these boards, and the Minister must have the ability to address them effectively and efficiently and as quickly as possibly. They shouldn't be allowed to go into a large debt amount and then the department take action, because it creates a lot of problems for the whole region.
One area in that act that has been a concern for quite some time -- and it has to be addressed -- is the ability to take principals out of the union and allow them to manage their respective schools. All being in the same union now, it makes it difficult for them to manage effectively. I think this area has to be addressed and I am sure that it is probably going to be. I look forward to the Minister tabling the Education Act in the House, and I look forward to addressing and looking to see if some of these concerns are going to be looked at.
Just in closing, Mr. Chairman, there are two concerns that have been brought to my attention. There seems to be a lack of commitment to implement the new star quest program which the band has been fully supportive of; the native groups in Fort Smith want the implementation. There has been some reluctance from department officials to implement it and I hope that this program can be implemented for the children who may require the extra support this program reflects.
I also want to indicate to the Minister that for the day care subsidy policy that he has been delivering through his department, you must find a way to ensure that policy can address students in need and allow students to access this subsidy. It is difficult for students going to school having the added stress of day care, but being unable to access the day care subsidy...I think you may have to look at that subsidy program to ensure that it is somewhat modified to address the people in need.
Those are my basic general comments, Mr. Chairman, and I thank you.