That is great and I am glad to hear that. However, I would suggest that if I am 30 or 40 or 50 years old, I do not really want to be in high school during the day with 15 and 16-year old kids. I guess it would be necessary if you want to access a physics lab or a chemistry lab, then I guess that you have to suck it up and head back to school in order to get these kinds of courses. We know they are not available in the evenings.
I do not think that this makes sense. I think we have to make a real effort to focus some of our money on ABE, specifically getting adults up to that basic high school diploma level before we start worrying about these other things that may just be icing on the cake.
I am not at all knocking the programs the college has. The nursing program and the business program are all very valuable. However, there are people who just want to get a basic high school diploma. I think it is important that we focus some more money in this area specifically for night programs. My understanding is that, in the past, when these things have been offered, they had to turn students away because there has been such a high demand. I would like us to take a closer look at that.
I would also like to ask the Minister, on March 31, 2000, when the funding for community skills and for this ABE sunsets, can the Minister tell us exactly which programs and which communities this funding sunsetting will affect?