Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last Tuesday, while discussing the capital investments within the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, I made some comments on two projects that I felt were missing from the 2009-2010 Capital Plan; specifically the J.H. Sissons School and the Yellowknife Campus for Aurora College. For clarity, I want to point out I am not requesting that the GNWT turn J.H. Sissons into the new Yellowknife Campus or that Sissons be shut down. There is no evidence, in my opinion, to suggest that such an action would be appropriate and no research, that I am aware of, has been done. For the record, I reconfirmed with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment that the department has no plans in place to shut down any schools in Yellowknife.

My statement on Tuesday was intended to encourage the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and the GNWT to think outside the box and to consider all avenues to address our capital and infrastructure needs. As a government spending public dollars, we must look for ways to maximize the dollars that we spend to ensure that we get the best results for our investments.

I mentioned Sissons only because I was already talking about Sissons School as a project that has clearly fallen off the capital plan. I am sorry for any stress that this reference to Sissons may have caused parents, teachers and students.

However, currently Sissons is part of a much larger problem. The problem of enrolment. Yellowknife is faced with a rapidly declining enrolment. Running schools that are only half filled increases costs significantly. High costs for students in facilities operating with low enrolment actually take dollars out of the programs for our children, money which could be used to enhance programming like immersion programs, if the system better utilized space.

My first concern is the education of our youth. I want this government to enhance programming that will give our youth the best results and prepare them for the world and their future in it. Enrolment

in Yellowknife has continuously dropped since 2002-2003 from 3,751 to 3,462 in 2008-2009. Projected numbers for 2009-2010 are even lower at 3,380.

Mr. Speaker, we the residents of the Northwest Territories, including the residents of Yellowknife, Members of this Legislative Assembly and the public school board, will be faced with significant challenges, many which are financial, over the coming years. Hard decisions will need to be made; decisions will be required, but cannot be done in the absence of research. Hard questions need to be asked.

I am committed to working with all interested stakeholders to find reasonable and responsible solutions; solutions that work in the best interest of Northerners, solutions which may include reprofiling school facilities.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted.