Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is certainly a pleasure to be back in the chamber after a brief absence. As Mr. Ootes indicated, I just returned from a Council of Ministers of Education conference in Halifax last week. I feel that the North's active participation in these national planning and strategy conferences are essential to education in the North and Canada, if we are to meet the human resources requirements that will make this country one of the best places to live for years to come, Mr. Speaker. Certainly that's a challenge for us here in the North.
Mr. Speaker, this school year there will be two students graduating from Grade 12 in my riding. I am happy to announce that Roland Catholique from Lutselk'e and Amy Miersch from Fort Resolution are graduating from Grade 12 this year. I am pleased to see these individuals persevere and become role models for others in their communities. I would like to thank them and their families for supporting them.
Mr. Speaker, we still have a long ways to go towards improving our education system. We need a system that balances putting the onus on students and families, providing better infrastructure and a system of education that can be delivered at the same standards that we find in our capital and regional centres in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, I have been working with Minister Ootes for the last three years on the educational issues in my riding, to address inefficiencies in the delivery of these programs and services. I would like to thank the Minister for his commitment the last few years and towards that end, Mr. Speaker, I have been informed that we will have five graduates coming out of my riding next year and that's a great improvement from the last three years. I would like to thank the Minister and the staff at the schools in Lutselk'e and Fort Resolution for making that happen, but we have a long way to go and I hope that we can improve on these five by at least 100 percent in the following years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause