Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and good afternoon. Mr. Speaker, I would like to first of all commend the government and the Minister responsible for Education for moving more quickly than required to lower the pupil-teacher ratio in the Northwest Territories. The recent announcement that additional money will be put into schools is indeed welcome. This will allow educational authorities to hire more teachers and lower the average pupil-teacher ratio from 17 to 16.5 to one, a year ahead of what is required by legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I think this sets a good precedent. Bill 1, which was passed by this Legislature, was a good bill, but the standards set in that bill, Mr. Speaker, should be seen as minimum requirements. Since this bill sets an average standard, if we just meet those standards, we are obviously going to have many classrooms that are above average in size.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to note that in other jurisdictions, the pupil-teacher ratio, particularly in the northern and remote areas of the provinces, is much lower than the average in that jurisdiction. For instance, in Labrador, the pupil-teacher ratio is much lower than if you take the whole province into consideration. In northern Alberta, the pupil-teacher ratio is very low. The last time I checked, the Northland School District had a pupil-teacher ratio of about 12 to one. Mr. Speaker, that is in a province that has the highest pupil-teacher ratio in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I would argue that we should strive to achieve the levels that we see in the northern and remote areas of other parts of Canada, rather than being satisfied with approaching -- not meeting, but just approaching -- the national average. We could make no more significant investment than in the education of our young people. In fact, Mr. Speaker, that would be the most effective and important investment we could possibly make.

It costs much more to teach adults, Mr. Speaker. How can you even measure the cost to society of the lost potential of those who do not succeed? We must invest more and earlier in our kids' lives.

Mr. Speaker, a study released just three weeks ago, which followed kids who were born in 1980, found that early intervention programs like Head Start had a dramatic impact on keeping young people in school later on in life. The impact, Mr. Speaker, was especially dramatic on boys, who typically drop out more often than girls.

So, Mr. Speaker, I would call on this government to continue to lead, to set the example and not just follow the minimum standards set by the amendments we made in Bill 1, and invest more heavily in lowering the pupil-teacher ratio and in early education programs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause