Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to proceed with my motion today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS the Education Act of the Northwest Territories requires children to attend school until the age of 16;

AND WHEREAS 37 percent of the population of the Northwest Territories is under the age of 20 and 22 percent of the total population is in school;

AND WHEREAS the Northwest Territories has the highest student teacher ratio in Canada;

AND WHEREAS teachers in the Northwest Territories are facing increased challenges, including students with special needs, multi-grade classes, fewer and inadequate resources, and rising class sizes;

AND WHEREAS it is estimated that nearly one-half of the students in the Northwest Territories require additional support in the classroom and approximately half of those students receive the required support;

AND WHEREAS the number of Northwest Territories students with special needs is unknown;

AND WHEREAS the number of children with special needs and the range of special needs must be identified and assessed before appropriate responses can be initiated;

AND WHEREAS success in school for children with special needs is linked to early diagnosis and assistance;

AND WHEREAS the Standing Committee on Social Programs has recommended, on numerous occasions, that funding be allocated and programming be developed to deal with special needs students with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effect;

AND WHEREAS the majority of northerners who spoke to the Minister's Forum on Education agreed that the Inclusive Schooling Policy is valid and desirable but also held the view that funding was so inadequate it rendered the policy unworkable;

AND WHEREAS it is projected that every dollar spent on early childhood developmental programming will result in a savings of $7 in future costs to government later in that child's life;

AND WHEREAS the Minister's Forum on Education recommended that, to ensure the needs of all students are met in an equitable way, the number of Special Needs Assistants, Program Support Teachers and Reading Specialists, as well as other support services should be increased;

NOW THEREFORE, I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River, that this Legislative Assembly recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories make an initial investment of $5 million to provide for special needs assessment and programming in the Northwest Territories;

AND FURTHER, recommends the government provide additional base funding of $7.7 million annually for special needs assessment and programming on an ongoing basis;

AND FURTHERMORE, recommends the government introduce a supplementary appropriation at the next sitting of this Legislature to provide for the initial investment of $5 million to deal with this special needs crisis.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not believe I have to say too much. For the last couple of days, Members have expressed their frustration with the fact that we need to put an awful lot of money into education and that perhaps the best place to start is to deal with the special needs in our schools because of the fact that special needs students need a lot of attention and they do cause disturbances in the classes. Dealing with this particular problem at the outset will help alleviate a lot of the other problems such as pupil/teacher ratio, that type of thing. Mr. Speaker, at this point I would just like to request that we have a recorded vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it would be totally inappropriate for any Member to oppose this motion. We have all spoken earlier this week about the need for additional resources in education. I am somewhat miffed by the demand of it, that we put $5 million in. But I would like to clarify for the Minister that I would like to see this particular money coming from within the department. I would like every stone turned over to try and provide the funds that are required for the special needs that are asked for in this motion here. Mr. Speaker, I would very much encourage the Members of the social committee to work a lot closer with Members on this side of the House long before an item like this gets to this Legislature and if they will attend the meetings and make sure these other Members in this House are very aware of what they are proposing, it would be much easier to work collectively and support a motion like this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have made this

motion because of the fact that there is simply not enough money in the education budget. I do not think walking around turning over stones is going to help find more money. In any case, if they do find some money, they become more efficient. It is not going to be $5 million a year or more, so it has got to come from someplace else. Just about every time we come back to this House in the last couple of years, there seems to be another pet project that Cabinet comes up with and they find the money for these things. Half the time, we do not even know anything about it until we see an article in the newspaper telling us about it. They have always been able to find money for projects. Now this is an area where, even if we have to go to deficit, this is the place to do it. This is the area, education, particularly special needs. Mr. Speaker, if this is the appropriate time, I would seek a recorded vote on this matter. Thank you.

Mr. Erasmus, Mrs. Groenewegen, Mr. Ootes, Mr. Henry, Mr. Rabesca.

Mr. Miltenberger, Mr. Kakfwi, Mr. Antoine, Mr. Dent, Mr. Roland, Mr. Steen.