Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. In Nahendeh we are proud of the success of our high school, college, and university students. We want our students to have opportunities to make choices for happy and productive futures. We hope many of our children will remain or return after completing education to work at jobs, including government jobs, in our communities.

In the past, students have had opportunities to work full time for the GNWT in the summer. This has provided them with a number of things: work experience, a better understanding of what kind of jobs are available in our communities, on-the-job skills and knowledge, and money to help them be more self-sufficient.

I call upon the government to support our summer students this coming spring with full-time summer jobs. I think all departments should have student

placements. I hear that cutbacks have led to only half-time positions, but this does not provide the most valuable work experience as time is so limited. Also, it doesn’t provide enough money for students, particularly those attending college and university. I urge our Ministers to be flexible and creative and ensure that full-time positions to our students are available.