Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I am going to talk about the Quebec Parental Leave Program deal, Mr. Speaker, that has just been moving forward as of late. Mr. Speaker, I can truly tell you that I believe in my heart that there is no better job out there than being a parent. I think that there is no better federal policy out there than one that recognizes the importance of parents and, therefore, puts a priority on parents by giving them one year's paid leave through their employment service to support that parental leave. Mr. Speaker, I have experience, and I know that nobody out there ever says on their death bed that they certainly wished they spent more time at work. It is about priorities with family they always talk about. We need more government action that leads in that direction to recognize those priorities.
Mr. Speaker, once again, Quebec is leading Canada with talking about priorities of families, childcare and, yet again, through child day care. Yet again, I have to say, they are leading with more time off and better time off. Mr. Speaker, if you are a privately employed person, you don't qualify for this leave, but Quebec has said enough is enough, we have to support our families and our people.
Mr. Speaker, our job here is to respond to the needs of the people of the Northwest Territories to make sure we support the needs with good policies. I think that is critical for this government to move forward. We need to show our priorities by asking good questions and by asking the federal government, can we manage that program? Mr. Speaker, the federal government has encouraged other places and regions in Canada to open up the door on this type of discussion. So, Mr. Speaker, in closing, I will say I will have questions later today for the Premier of this government to see if he will look into this priority program and see if we can implement it in the Northwest Territories to help our parents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause
