Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, will be supporting this motion. I’d like to thank Mr. Bromley for bringing it to the floor.

The statistics show, the numbers show that students who take on a career by advancing their educational knowledge, greatly contribute to the Northwest Territories and the communities. These educational programs that we offer in secondary

institutions will certainly be busier if we had the proper funding for students to take advantage of upgrading their skills and educational knowledge by having them being supported through Student Financial Assistance.

As Mr. Bromley has indicated, there is a federal program under the UCEP program that’s only geared for Dene Treaty Indians or Inuit and certainly cuts out the aboriginal people. Sorry; the Metis people who have to once again fight and scrape and ask for equal rights as any other aboriginal people in Canada.

The upgrading courses that are now being chosen in the communities, a lot of our Grade 12 students who are leaving high school have to take upgrading programs. Right now they are not being funded or supported. The only program I know of that has support is called the Access Program, which there are four programs in the North that students can take funding.

I wanted to ask the Minister in terms of this motion here to see that there is a strong emphasis to the student financial services to support Grade 12 and give the students a chance in their career, let them know we are there for them, and when we have students graduating from Grade 12, we know that for certain they can go to a post-secondary institution. Right now the joke is that once you’re finished Grade 12, make room for Aurora College because you’re going to do your two years to get into an access program.

We are severely lacking any type of quality standards of education in the North and it’s certainly shown by having a motion like this on the table to support our students. This is an indication as to where our education in the Northwest Territories is.