Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On another subject, I along with the Minister of Education, Mr. Miltenberger, and the other Yellowknife MLAs, attended a meeting with Yellowknife
adult educators. This group included representatives from eight organizations, such as Aurora College, the Yellowknife Association for Community Living, Tree of Peace, and the FOCUS Program of the YWCA to name just a couple of them. Many concerns were raised including the lack of federal and territorial government funding for education and training programs for income support recipients, policy changes within the federal Ministry of Human Resources Development Canada, which now provides no training support for individuals who face employment barriers, and inconsistent and non-standardized program delivery in communities.
Overall, this translates into significantly reduced training and support services for individuals with limited literacy skills. It also points to a lack of overall vision and comprehensive approach to adult education here in the territories. The Minister recently was able, and I commend him for this, to fund community literacy projects through the Yellowknife Association for Community Living, the YWCA, and the Neshda Child Care Centre. But funding commitments like that are badly needed, and we also need to address some fundamental issues. The adult educators have asked the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment to evaluate the department's strategic approach to adult education, to review and implement core funding to appropriately support its vision on adult education, to make multi-year funding available for adult education programs and services, and to work collaboratively with community-based organizations which have experience in adult education service delivery.
Mr. Speaker, investment in adult education and literacy upgrading will pay off many times down the road, with savings in such areas as justice and income support. We need to work and continue to refine a vision and a plan for a comprehensive approach to adult education here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
--Applause