Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The department needs to, on a regular basis, ensure that our program is in line with getting a graduate or post-graduate degree. So I think it is imperative that this sort of change take place on a regular basis. I expect that it would probably be a good idea to take a look, as we just did with the Employment Standards Act, making it possible for the government to make this change in regulation rather than come back to the House and do it in legislation.
It wasn't something we had time to do in the life of this government, but it is something that should be considered for future governments. Our program currently does fund post-graduate studies. Somebody who has gone to school in the Northwest Territories is entitled to 12 semesters of study. That means that you are covered with the remission program all the way up to the first six full years of study. Then subsequent to that, there are the loan programs available. The expectation is that somebody taking one of those programs for lawyers or for doctors, they are going to have earning potential to be able to pay back at the higher levels. We've made it relatively easy to get their first six years of study.
I take the Member's point. All of our programs need to be looked at on a regular basis to ensure that we are achieving the goal of ensuring that northerners have good access to programs and are encouraged to come back.