Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As a former teacher, I am pleased to participate in the detailed review of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. I am sure that most honourable Members will agree that education should be our first priority. With Nunavut soon upon us, we are counting on education and training to prepare as many people as possible for the new job opportunities which will be created. As the Minister knows, I have some specific concerns about elders; whether the territorial senior citizens' supplement could be reviewed for increase. I am very concerned about the difficult circumstances of our elders in coping with the very high cost of living in our very small, remote communities. The elders are very important, respected citizens. They are the anchors for our society. I will deal with those concerns when we get to the activity of culture and careers.

However, in general, I wish to express my concern that in my region, and throughout Nunavut, the first priority in education must be to prepare our people for the new jobs which will result from Nunavut. I am pleased to learn that some $40 million will be spent by the federal government on training for Nunavut. Also, I am pleased that Mr. Irwin has said that training is a priority in the funding for Nunavut.

Mr. Chairman, we have an Arctic College system in place in Nunavut. In most of our communities, there are community learning centres in place. I am pleased with the new facility in place in Pangnirtung. As the Minister knows, I am anxious to work with the Minister and the community education council in Clyde River to make sure that the new community learning centre now being planned for Clyde River is the right size to meet the needs of that community. This is nothing new to the Minister, by the way, Mr. Chairman.

Also, I am very hopeful that the community can be fully involved in the planning. If that means that we must take a little more time, then it will be worth it to get a new learning centre which is right for the needs of the community.

However, Mr. Chairman, the point I wish to make is that I am very hopeful that the $40 million or so which is available to train for Nunavut can be spent through the Arctic College system which is already in place. We have heard concerns about the possible move of certain college programs from the Baffin region to other regions. One of the programs under consideration for being moved is management training. Mr. Chairman, I am all for management training programs being available in all three Nunavut regions. I believe it will be unfortunate if only one region in Nunavut has this important program located in the region. What I am hoping, Mr. Chairman, is that the money which will be made available for training in Nunavut can flow through the Arctic College. I am also hoping that these new monies will allow us to make more programs like management training available in all three regions.

Obviously there are other programs of equal importance in preparing for Nunavut: teacher training, training social workers, trades, environmental managers. I would like to ask Mr. Dent whether this money can be administered through this government and the Arctic College system which is now in place. Does the Department of Education have a plan in place for training for Nunavut? Could this Assembly be given details of departments' training plans for Nunavut? Is it possible that Arctic College programs could be enhanced with the new monies available from the federal government? Is it possible that the management training programs which were due to be moved out from the Baffin region could be restored with these new federal monies? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.