Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, March 4th to 10th is Education Week in the Northwest Territories. It is an opportunity for all of us to celebrate the role that education plays in enriching and improving our lives.

The theme for Education Week 2002 is Changing Land... Changing Peoples. Communities are encouraged to celebrate Education Week by exploring the impact of change on the environment, lifestyles, cultures and languages of the peoples of the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, early childhood programs, schools, learning centres, Aurora College campuses and libraries across the NWT have been invited to participate in Education Week. Groups and individuals are encouraged to celebrate stories and share memories of the past and present by recording them on paper drums and building a community drum display. Some of the drums created are part of the territorial drum display in the Great Hall here at the Legislative Assembly. I encourage each of you to take time to visit the territorial drum display and read about some of the change that has occurred in the Northwest Territories over the years. These stories will help us to learn about the impact change has had on the land and the people of the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, it is no coincidence that Changing Land... Changing Peoples is also the theme of the Interchange on Canadian Studies 2002 conference to be hosted in Yellowknife in April. The interchange is a forum for young Canadians to travel, to meet other young Canadians, to hear from prominent speakers and to share experiences and ideas significant to Canada. The event is held in a different province or territory each year. The conference in the NWT this year is a unique opportunity to build on the theme, Changing Land... Changing Peoples.

Our annual celebration of Education Week is an excellent opportunity for each of us to reflect on the significant role education plays in our lives. As the Northwest Territories evolves into a self-reliant, economically viable territory, it is important that we acquire as much knowledge and information as we can, not only to understand the impact and significance of change but also to participate fully in that change. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause