Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to follow up on my colleague, Mr. Bell's comments regarding student financial assistance. I have met, along with my colleagues, with students from the Student Association for the Northwest Territories. I have also received calls and concerns from many constituents.
The government is to be commended for making long overdue changes to student financial assistance, but a very clear area of concern is the interpretation of the legislation, the regulations and the policies put into place. Mr. Bell has touched on some of them. There are also some other very simple issues that I believe the Minister could, through his own direction, remedy, just by giving direction to do so.
Issues relating to direct deposit, the ability to choose a travel agent, and the very intimidating nature of the manual put out. It is over 100 pages long, and even my esteemed learned colleague, the former Minister responsible for Education, said he would be confused trying to apply for student financial assistance.
Mr. Speaker, the students are not asking for much. These are process issues, things that could be done administratively to try to alleviate some of these concerns. It is also possible, in my opinion, Mr. Speaker, that by decentralizing some of these authorities down to the career centres in the regions, the students would be better served in the regions and communities they are closest to.
It is very difficult to be dealing with impersonal fourth floor operations out of the Lahm Ridge Tower when you are from Fort Smith, Norman Wells, Sachs Harbour, or wherever you may be from. You could probably get a better level of service from the region you live in.
Mr. Speaker, the government has clearly made a commitment across the board to decentralize to the communities and to the regions. This is one program that, for some reason, they seem intent on hanging on to at the headquarters level. I believe there are simple, effective and efficient ways to deal with some of the students' concerns.
Like my colleague, Mr. Bell, I hope the Minister responsible for Education, when we come to his budget, will be willing to listen and make the necessary changes that he has the full power and authority to do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause