Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as announced in the House last week, I attended a joint federal/provincial/territorial meeting of the Council of Ministers of Education and the Forum of Labour Market Ministers with the Honourable Jane Stewart, Minister of Human Resources Development Canada. Our meetings were held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where I was joined by my colleague, MLA Steven Nitah.
This was an especially timely meeting for our territory. The focus of discussions centered on how governments can strengthen their priorities and ensure that Canadians are well educated and prepared to take their place in the global economy.
Ministers recognized that while people are our greatest resource, we need to focus our efforts to strengthen post-secondary education and labour market training. To do this, Ministers discussed the need for a cooperative approach with the federal government to secure additional financial resources.
As Members are aware, my department has been working with the federal government to secure financial resources to expand human resource development in the NWT. Mr. Speaker, this need is not going unnoticed in other areas of the country. In fact, the Minister of Education in New Brunswick made the comment during last week's meeting that the territories must have a more supportive financial arrangement with the federal government. It appears our message is getting through.
In Halifax, Mr. Nitah and I had the opportunity to meet with Minister Stewart. During this meeting, we were able to discuss the proposals placed before her department on oil/gas and mining training human resource development. Members will recall that these two proposals, requesting a federal investment of some $25 million over five years, were developed and submitted in partnership with various agencies, industry and aboriginal governments.
Minister Stewart was very familiar with these proposals and the need for significant investment in the NWT. During our discussions, she identified the recent federal government commitment of $25 million over two years for aboriginal skills and employment programs. While the amount of $25 million is allotted for the entire country, it is not unreasonable, after our meeting with Minister Stewart, to assume the NWT will receive a portion of this funding.
Minister Stewart advised us that any projects approved for funding must be results oriented and targeted to those groups where the need is the greatest. This expectation is not a problem for us. We have a mine training committee in place that offers training for guaranteed job placements for successful participants. As well, we can demonstrate results in our oil and gas sector.
Mr. Speaker, in anticipation of this federal commitment, I have directed my deputy minister, Dr. Loretta Foley, to continue working with HRDC and the mine training committee to ensure success in these collaborative training initiatives.
While these developments are indeed good news, Mr. Speaker, I want to stress that this is not the end, but rather the beginning. As a Legislature, we must continue to press the federal government for continued, ongoing and multi-year investments in this extremely important area. I look forward to keeping the House informed of our progress, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
---Applause