Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition to save Nunavut's libraries. We, the undersigned, object to the radical change which the GNWT Department of Education, Culture, and Employment has planned for library services in Nunavut. The changes are being introduced without any community consultation and lay off notices have already been issued. Literacy, especially Inuktitut literacy, is very important to the future of Nunavut and libraries play a critical role in literacy. The Nunavut communities without public libraries is a computer connected to the Internet is a good idea, but not a substitute for a real library.

Mr. Speaker, the petition contains 724 signatures from the residents of Iqaluit, Apex, Igloolik, Pangnirtung, Arctic Bay, Grise Fiord, Broughton Island, Kimmirut, Cape Dorset, Hall Beach, Cambridge Bay, Rankin Inlet, Inuvik, Yellowknife, Ontario, and the United States of America. Mr. Speaker, this is a widespread concern to say the least. Looks like a crisis to me. The petitioners request that all Members should work to preserve the public library services which currently exist and cancel the lay off notices which have been issued. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.