Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We all look around and see all the developments that are happening in the oil and gas sector, the mining sector, the diamond industry and now some $85 million of federal funding to improve our infrastructure in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, it's important to realize that the biggest challenge we face in the small communities is just trying to achieve the basic minimums of getting those opportunities and taking advantage of the oil and gas sector jobs or maintenance jobs on our highways. We are now looking at the construction of a pipeline. We have to have the people who meet the requirements and qualifications by way of educational training programs.
Mr. Speaker, one thing we seem to strive for is just try to maintain enough dollars to keep our adult education learning centres open, so people can either take upgrading or programs to improve their education levels so they can take advantage of these training programs.
Mr. Speaker, on the pipeline alone, we are looking at almost 2,500 to 2,800 jobs needed to conclude that major project. Mr. Speaker, in the diamond industry, you are looking at many jobs in the mines, yet we continue to have social and economic projects in our communities because of the standard of living we have in our communities. A lot of it is has to do with literacy and people not having the minimums to take the programs out there to give them the tools to be equipment operators, welders and work in maintenance jobs. As a government, we have to look at ways of using our program dollars with our infrastructure funding that we have to complement the projects that are going to come down the road, so that we have the numbers, we have the people in place to take advantage of those jobs. We are going to need 700 just as heavy equipment operators. Do we have enough bodies out there to fill those jobs? We might not have them today, but in the next three or four years, we could have enough people trained and enough people with their tickets that when this pipeline is built, we have people on the ground to do it.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.