Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this being Education Week, I would like to talk about the challenges teachers face in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, in Monday's paper, an article titled "Searching for Solutions" talks about how the Department of Education, Culture and Employment hired a consultant to do surveys with teachers and the Teachers' Association to determine if housing is an issue in their becoming teachers in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, the results wouldn't be completed until mid-March, and by that time this House will be likely adjourned.

But, I've said it, Members of this House have said it, people have told us that housing is a major issue when it comes to educators coming and staying in the North. We all know a comfort level has to be reached between the student and the teacher for a student to have optimum learning capacity. But they have an average turn around of five years and, in some cases, every year you see numerous teachers resign because of housing shortages. We know they are living together. Teachers are forced to live together, live in the schools, in health centres and in churches. These are not places where people are intended to live and we should not expect our teachers to live in those environments.

Knowing the facts of this housing shortage, I'm going to be asking the Minister what his department is doing in partnership with other departments to address this very huge issue.

We need good teachers to have good students. We need good students to prepare for the economic realities of today and tomorrow. In my constituency, the graduation rate leaves something to be desired. In Lutselk'e we haven't had a graduate in a long time and a lot of this is a result of the high turnover of teachers. With new relationships being built, even when they get here and agree to the cost of their units, often because of the new policy and regulations that are regulating the housing market, a person could increase the rent and falsify the information to the teachers and by the time they get here, what are they going to do, go back? Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the Minister some questions on this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.