Thank you, Madam Chair. I am going to make a few quick comments, and then we can get into detail.

---Applause

I am pleased to see that the department has set up a fund for full-day kindergarten. Hopefully, some of the local boards will use some of this money that they were using for kindergarten to supply bussing so our kids don't have to walk to school at 40 below and two feet of snow uphill in a raging blizzard. The increase in SFA, I like that. It is a good start. Everybody could always use a bit more. One of the things I have always tried to do is get kids that I know to try and go to school and take advantage of the government because they will put them through school. They don't have to worry about working their way through school. They can just concentrate on their studies. So we have a pretty good system.

Anything we can do to help the seniors is more than welcome, help them to be a little more independent. I have always been a big supporter of the Apprenticeship Program. I believe we still have one of the best apprenticeship programs around. One of the problems I have heard, talking to a few people, is one of the requirements they have is Grade 12, I believe. A lot of these guys decide early on they want to get into trades and some of them don't have Grade 12. I remember years ago, it wasn't that way. I know now they have to pass a trades entrance exam. There are all kinds of opportunities for kids up here to do anything they want. A lot of times, the government will take care of it. I think, sometimes, the income support, as one of my colleagues said before, is supposed to be just a temporary solution until people can get back on their feet. I still think that a lot of people treat it like it is a birthright. There are some people who do need it. I agree with that. I have seen people who are disabled try and work rather than collect income support. It also bothers me when I see people who do try and earn a living seem to be worse off than people who are on income support. I have a real problem with that.

A few comments I thought I'd throw in there, Mr. Minister. I don't expect you to comment to any of them. There are still a lot of questions that I have. I will ask them at the appropriate time. I like some of the programs that run out of ECE. I don't think anything is perfect, as you obviously hear about all the time. I was actually planning on asking the Minister how this new human resource amalgamation was affecting some of the district boards' ability to do their job, but I changed my mind and decided not to ask it. Thank you, Madam Chair.