(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (Translation ends) This government is committed to having a representative public service in Nunavut. To help achieve that goal, last year the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Government of Canada and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated announced the Nunavut Unified Human Resources Development Strategy. This strategy will help ensure that Inuit get jobs in both the public and private sector which will result from the creation of Nunavut. Through the strategy, the federal government is investing almost $40 million in incremental training programs over four years. Last year, as a result, the territorial government received an additional $5.1 million for training in Nunavut.
Education, Culture and Employment is currently negotiating an agreement for an additional $11 million, which will bring the department's total allocation for education and training in the three Nunavut regions to $108 million dollars during this fiscal year.
In the medium term, Nunavut Arctic College is receiving extra funding to provide more programs to help people prepare for positions that already exist, or will soon exist, in Nunavut. Seventeen courses involving more than 150 Inuit have been started. Although not all of these courses have yet concluded, we know that the success of the first year has been impressive. In 1997/98, another 30 diploma and certificate courses are being offered at a variety of locations. Some of the key programs offered are Management Studies, Corrections and Community Justice, Human Resource Training, and Community Lands Administration.
The strategy's long term component consists of an investment in youth and schools so that today's young people become tomorrow's public servants, wildlife officers, doctors, entrepreneurs and teachers. This long term component is essential in reaching and maintaining a representative workforce in Nunavut.
In providing more opportunities for education and training through the Nunavut Unified Human Resources Development Strategy, the territorial government is fulfilling its commitment to developing a representative public service in Nunavut. Mr. Speaker, it is also responding to the recommendations of the Nunavut Implementation Commission in Footprints in the New Snow and Footprints 2. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause