Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just have some comments I would like to make. As we look at this piece of legislation, there are budget implications that I feel we have to look at carefully. Where is Cabinet planning to get the new money? This is worth over $14 million over the life of this government. The numbers we have seen project that with the current rates, we could have a possible deficit of over $150 million. Which programs does Cabinet plan to take money from?

The distribution of the pupil/teacher ratio fund is also something that has to be looked at. While pupil/teacher ratio is a territorial standard, it is not really what each school and school board gets. The formula varies depending on the size of the schools. Smaller schools have lower pupil/teacher ratios. What will that impact be? Will this be an across the board adjustment to the formula? Or will it require a reworking of the formula? Will this raise even more concerns about the inequities between large and small schools?

Special needs is another issue, Mr. Speaker, that is clearly not a well defined area. Right now, there could potentially be a black hole in requirement for funds given the wide definition. There are no real guidelines for the allocation of these funds based on any particular special need. The funds are allocated on the assumption that every school board and every region is dealing with the same quantity and type of special needs, which is not really the case. Will this new funding simply be added to the formula on an equitable basis?

There is also the issue of precedence, Mr. Speaker, as we look at this legislation. Are we, as we are putting specific program requirement in legislation, going to be prepared to look at this as we enter negotiations with the Union of Northern Workers, in terms of social workers and case loads? Doctors and nurses and client loads?

This is an important piece of legislation. It is not as straightforward as I think people would like to think. We have to look at this in the broader context of the overall governments' budgeting and fiscal planning. Thank you.