Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. This

weekend, on Saturday, I

had the privilege of

attending and speaking at the grad ceremonies held in Inuvik for the Samuel Hearne graduates. We had 40 grads this year, and it was the 40th year of

Samuel Hearne Secondary School.

The valedictorian who spoke to the students made a couple of comments that caused me to think about and appreciate the system that we have up here. The first comment he made, he was talking about doing his grade 11 in Ottawa just last year, and he kind of disputed the fact that everybody says the quality of education is better down south, and I thought that was a very good remark. This was coming from a young man who had done all his schooling in the North, through our educational system, from kindergarten. The second remark that he made, he encouraged his fellow grads to take advantage of the best post-secondary support system in the country. I thought these were very wise words coming from such a young man.

And that’s where I’d like to go today, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to speak on the training opportunities for youth. Not all of our students are going to go on to university or college. There are a lot of them that are going to go into the trades, and that’s something we have to promote, and promote vigorously, starting in Inuvik, with the trades trailers that they have there. A couple of my colleagues and I had an opportunity to tour the facility, and it’s something that’s going to have a lot of positive influence, I think, in the coming years.

This government, in my opinion, has to be proactive. They have to be leading the way, leading the push for training Northerners, and not following. Some of the aboriginal governments –– in particular, the Inuvialuit and Gwich’in –– are doing what they can to try to set themselves and the young people up to take advantage of the training opportunities. The recent announcement –– I think, this past weekend –– of $1.2 billion in exploration rights for the Beaufort-Delta really points to the need that we have to get our young people out there. We have to get them trained. We have to accelerate the training, because development will come and go, and if we’re not proactive in this, then we’re going to miss the boat on this one. It’s something that we should be setting up for right

now. This government has to take the leading role in this.

Mr.

Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to

conclude my statement.

Unanimous consent granted.