Thank you, Ms. Lee. To the motion. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, will be supporting the motion. I am glad that we are addressing this issue. I have gone to residential school, but, more importantly, I think that the history of residential schools in the Northwest Territories goes back to the late 1800s. I was surprised to find that in Fort McPherson in 1898 there was a residential school. The only way I came across this information, I just happened to be in Ottawa, and I went to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation to meet a few people there to talk about the Tl'oondih healing centre. They had a map on

the wall that showed all the residential schools and the history of residential schools in the North. From then to where we are today, I think we have learned a lot, but we have devolved a lot to where we are today with program and service delivery.

If you talk to a lot of the elders in our communities, these people were taken away when they were five years old and they never came home until they were 10 or 12 years old, and they lost the connection to their own parents, and to their grandparents. They lost their language. They basically did not fit in. I think a lot of the emotional scars that we deal with today, with alcoholism and drug abuse and whatnot, you could trace it all the way back to the change in how we disrupted the family cycle and the family unit as aboriginal people, who have always depended on their grandparents and their parents; and they were closely connected to their relatives. I think from this experience, we have learned, through this process, to release a lot of these emotions that came with it, but, more importantly, to learn from what has happened. I think, as governments and as aboriginal people, we have to not reinvent the cycle of being taken away again. I hate to say this, but we're doing that today in regard to how people are being apprehended, how people are being institutionalized, and I think we have to get away from it.

I think, also, realizing that a lot of these people ended up in places such as Hay River, Fort Providence, Akaitcho Hall, Stringer Hall, Grollier Hall, Breynat Hall, Grandin College, and I think I was in almost all of those places, except Hay River and Breynat Hall and Stringer Hall and Akaitcho Hall. A lot of those were good times, but I think a lot of things have happened in those facilities that have given it a black eye. But I think for most people who went through it, it was a good learning experience.

Again, the thing that really gets to me, is having to grow up in a home where there were eight of us, and every year there were one or two people who kept going away, and the family kept getting smaller. At one point, there were only two of us left in the household, just me and my younger brother. I think that's something that always stands out in mind, to realize that we, as a family, were basically going through the same situation people went through back in the 1800s. I think we have to change that, and I'm glad Mr. Yakeleya brought this motion forward, but, more importantly, recognizing that we do have to deal with this issue and move on. With that, I would like to thank the Member for his motion, which I will be supporting.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. To the motion. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise, too, to just briefly express my support for this motion. I thank the Member for bringing the motion forward in the House, not because of the fact that my parents also went through the residential school system, and myself, and all my brothers and sisters also, but because of the fact that I would like to see this as a first step toward the establishment of a national day of residential school healing and reconciliation that, hopefully, the federal government will initiate through this motion as being a start.

I'm not going to talk too much about what the other Members were saying about the residential school experiences, but I have to point out the fact that all those experiences were not all bad. Some of them, especially a lot of my experiences in the residential school, were quite good. I have to, on one hand, commend the residential school system on sort of giving me some insight into the western way of living, and how the only way to succeed, in this day and age, is through education. I thank them for that. But the loss of languages, and traditions, and cultures, also definitely outweigh education in many instances. But, again, I support this motion, just for the very fact that I hope it leads to something bigger and better for aboriginal people across Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. To the motion. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the issue of the residential school experience often tends to be a very versatile one, and I contemplated whether I would make any comment on this motion, or just quietly vote. But I want to recognize, as well, in the community of Fort Smith, Breynat Hall and Grandin College have been there for a long time. They have a history that is related to many, many people in the Northwest Territories. As my colleague, Mr. McLeod, indicated, there were good experiences and bad, probably for all of us who went through those systems.

As Mr. Villeneuve indicated, his parents went to residential school. My mother, who will turn 81 this coming spring, went to a residential school in Lac La Biche. The one thing I noticed from a very young age -- if you'll excuse me for making this personal observation -- she still won't eat porridge today because of what happened. I know what happened; but just one, small example.

So this is a very delicate issue. While I will acknowledge that it exists, there were many good things that happened there, and there were many bad things. Many of our colleagues here went, and I have many lifelong friends from my experiences in Grandin College and Breynat Hall, friends that I still have today from all over the North, and I will support this motion.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. To the motion. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, will be in support of this motion. This is something that I think is long overdue, and I commend the Member for Sahtu for bringing it up.

Residential schools are something that have been going on for years. My mother attended residential school in Aklavik, where they weren't allowed to speak their language. As a result, a lot of us have lost our language. My wife's grandfather went to residential school at age six and didn't return to his community until he was 15.

Some of the Members have said that there have been some good things come out of the residential school. I can't think of too many. I was there at nine years old, but one of the good things that came out of the one in Inuvik is we made friends, as Mr. Miltenberger said, that lasted us a lifetime. Mr. Sahtu...

---Laughter

Okay, Mr. Sahtu and I. I got to know Norman when we were in Grollier Hall. We played hockey together, so that's about the only positive thing I see that came out of this whole residential school thing.

---Laughter

Other than that, I mean, there's a dark side that not too many people want to talk about, but I do commend Mr. Yakeleya for bringing this motion forward, and I'm proud to support it. Thanks a lot.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. To the motion. I will allow Mr. Yakeleya to give closing remarks.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, honourable Members of the Legislative Assembly. I have been debating this motion for some time. I'm not too sure how it will be taken, or how you will react to the motion. I thought many things in terms of how I was going to proceed with this motion. I want to thank the people who helped me draft this and put this into a manner that is honourable and respectful to the House.

I do this on behalf of my mother and some older people who had to deal with being taken away for months and months.

I didn't expect this to happen, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to say that when hurt, as survivors, it really hurts. But we are fighters, we are survivors. We take on the bumps and grinds of life and we get back up and go at it again. We've met some good people, as Mr. Miltenberger and Mr. McLeod have mentioned. We have also developed some leadership skills. Sometimes we question ourselves in society, and this is where we want to take the spirit and give it. Thank you.

I encourage leaders across here to not give up. Keep going. That's what we did as survivors. We were not allowed to go home for a long time. We just had to take whatever they had to give us from residential school, but we have come out okay. We want to go forward in the Northwest Territories. I think this government is making strides in terms of doing something. We do this for the old people who don't have a voice right now. In this type of situation, they are hurting worse than us. We honour them just to say we recognize this day. Springtime is a new life, it's a new beginning. Ducks are coming and people are happy. That is how life is for us.

Good, bad, right or wrong, residential school is in our blood and we are not going to change that, but we can make something of it and do something for our kids. That's all I ask for. Whatever comes out of it, it's a gift for us. Right now, I want to thank Members for allowing me to speak. I apologize for getting emotional. I didn't think I would. I think of my Granny and my Mom and some of the old people you have back home. We know what it's like to be away from our families. Believe me, we know what it's like. We don't give up and we keep on going.

I want to thank Members for allowing this motion to be read in the House, debated, and have the chance to be voted on. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion.

Question is being called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

---Applause

Item16, motions. Item 17, first reading of bills. Item 18, second reading of bills. Item 19, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Minister's Statement 24-15(4), Sessional Statement; and Bill 4, An Act to Amend the Education Act, with Mr. Ramsay in the chair.

Thank you, Chairman. The committee wishes to review Minister's Statement 24-15(4), Sessional Statement.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. I guess we will open it up to general comments. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The motion is in order; it's not debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

I will now rise and report progress.