Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to, today in my Member's statement, take the opportunity to jog the memory of a couple of the Ministers on the other side of the House. I am not sure what happens when you get elected to Cabinet because I have never had that privilege, but something happens to their memories, I am afraid. I will refer to Mr. Miltenberger after, but as far as the remarks of Mr. Dent in the unedited Hansard from yesterday on page 843, Mr. Dent states, "We did not talk about the budget on Friday the 30th. We could at least have started and done some consideration." I just want to remind Mr. Dent that, in fact, we did hear all of the Minister's opening remarks on the department on Friday, the 30th. Then, if he forgets the committee report, I thought it was quite memorable myself, but I was in the chair. He said we did not consider it, so I just wanted to remind him.
As far as Mr. Miltenberger's comments yesterday in unedited Hansard, Mr. Miltenberger seems to have forgotten that any Ordinary Members ever thought that putting money into education was a priority of this government. I quote:
I sat on the committee up until recently on social programs. Nowhere in there is there indicated anywhere in my reading of this document right here of the need to move money to take money from other sources or other departments.
To that end I would like to remind Mr. Miltenberger of a motion that was, in fact, passed in this House on June 1, 1998. I am going to read the motion, if I may.
WHEREAS the Northwest Territories has the highest student-teacher ratio in Canada;
AND WHEREAS teachers in the Northwest Territories are facing increasing challenges, including diverse and multi-grade classes, with fewer and inadequate resources;
AND WHEREAS nearly one half of the students in the Northwest Territories require special supports in the classroom, and approximately half of these students receive them;
AND WHEREAS the majority of Northwest Territories students who participated in the national School Achievement Indicators Program tests ranked below an acceptable level in most areas;
AND WHEREAS there are 18,000 adults in the Northwest Territories who can be classified as illiterate, or semi-literate;
AND WHEREAS most communities in the Northwest Territories do not have stable funding for Adult Basic Education with only 35 Northwest Territories communities having permanent adult educators;
AND WHEREAS Adult Basic Education includes academic upgrading, pre-employment training, and personal skill development;
AND WHEREAS alternative delivery approaches, supports for students, community involvement and accredit programs are necessary to achieve success in adult education;
Mr. Speaker, I am just about finished. I would like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.