Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’m not going to repeat what the Member for Yellowknife Centre had to say. There are a lot of things that he touched on that are working in the Northwest Territories; the facilities we have in the Northwest Territories and the benefits of living in the Northwest Territories, the amount of benefits that we have here in the Northwest Territories.

Just touching on something that Mr. Bromley alluded to, the UCEP, the INAC funding is there. The free horse, the programming that’s there for the Northwest Territories that do not qualify for Student Financial Assistance. They are there to assist as well when they’re down south. There are a number of different programs outside SFA programming.

At the same time, there are certain programs such as the NWT Labour Market Agreement that provide incentive and assistance to NWT residents. I think we really need to be careful in dealing with this particular subject. We are currently dealing with the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative, as you know. We have been to the Sahtu region already. We heard over and over about the students that are upgrading. We are dealing with that right now.

I don’t know why this motion is before us as we pursue a new initiative that will come out with a solution at the end of the discussion that we’ll be having. It will be addressed here in the House, as well, as we move forward.

I’m afraid that there will be a number of students out there that are just waiting for us to say yes to sponsor SFA on upgrading. We’re not talking about 10 or 20 students. We could be talking about over 100 students. Students that are down south currently already.

There is also a disincentive where school boards will lose their money as well. The money that’s been provided to them, the funding and investment is based on enrolment. Those students, once they leave school they lose the funding as well. If the students return to the schools or the community learning centres that are there as well in the communities that can provide various programs. Once you leave the Northwest Territories, there are cost factors. Where you live, tuition, you have to eat. Here in the Northwest Territories we have that advantage.

I just want to reiterate that there is a new initiative that’s underway. I think we just need to be patient with that. We are currently reviewing our SFA program as well. That will reflect on what we’ve

heard from the students, the parents and the community members. There are other things that are on the way within the Northwest Territories that we are pursuing and reviewing different perspectives.

With the Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative we are going to cover all regions. We’re going to share with all people, people of the Northwest Territories giving us solutions, guidance and suggestions as we move forward. This is the very topic of discussion that we’ve had in the Sahtu and that we will have in other regions as well.

With this as a direction to our government, Cabinet will abstain on the motion.