Qujannamiik, Mr. Chairman. I have just a few more general comments. In the preamble it is advocated that and delivery of education. This concept has been an underlying principle of this Assembly; to transfer programs and services to communities, to encourage communities to take responsibility, take charge of delivering and have ownership of these programs and services. However, some real concerns which override this act are the powers and authorities of the

Minister; the whole issue of centralizing more and more powers to the Minister is in contrast to trying to devolve more powers to communities and regions. The Standing Committee on Legislation stated in their report, and I quote: "The many references to ministerial authority did not seem consistent with the partnership approach and increased local authority cited in the preamble."

Mr. Chairman, saying that, there have been a lot of amendments and changes already made to this act to reduce the powers of the Minister and, for these, I am pleased that they were made. The real issue that I am making is that, as much as possible, the powers, responsibilities and authorities should be given to local or regional education bodies. When the time comes for bands and Metis locals to get involved or regional governments, this theme should be practised and then encouraged. We have to encourage local community organizations to take responsibility for programs.

I would like to make a few comments on regulations. It has been mentioned many times by Members of this House and many of the presenters that we heard, that the development of the regulations is very important. They will provide the details of how the provisions in the act will work. There are many issues raised about these and I am pleased that there are provisions in the act that place a requirement on the Minister to consult with the appropriate organizations on these. So my comment here is one I have made before and I will make again. The Minister is now obligated to consult with the organizations and I encourage the Minister to do that. I will also encourage all the appropriate organizations to ensure that they get involved in the development of these regulations. We can't continue to sit back and watch as things happen. The windows of opportunity are there and they have to prepare themselves to do this. I think the development of these regulations will take place over the next year. It is going to be a long tedious job, but I wish everyone good luck and all the best in working these out. I know it isn't easy.

Those are my general comments. As I mentioned, I will have specific comments as we get to the respective clauses. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Minister, his staff and everyone for all the hard work they have done in getting to this stage. It is a real achievement. Thank you.