Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too will be voting in favour of this particular motion. I believe if you listen very carefully to the membership here, the Members all speak in favour of the motion and you’ll notice, listening carefully, that you’ll hear the strong support for the Mine Training Society in that there is acknowledgement for the work that they have done over the many years.

I truly believe in supporting educational opportunities that support Northerners, allowing them to get on their own feet. It’s almost like a helping hand as opposed to a help out, an education, as I’ve always seen it that way. We’ve got to get people the resources so that they can do things themselves and this is the type of initiative that allows them to get those opportunities on their own to improve their individual lives. As I often say, it’s not just their lives they’re improving, they’re improving the base of their family’s lives and their children’s lives going forward.

The training offered at the Mine Training Society has created independent people. I believe that’s not just good for those people, it’s good for this government. I hope that the government would recognize that when they communicate this message to the federal government, that we’re allowing Northerners to continue to be independent, to be able to fulfill those dreams and destinies, the hopes that they have for their future. I believe strongly that the Mine Training Society has brought new hope and opportunity for over 900 individuals who may not have had that hope before the society was developed and the mine training was provided.

As I said earlier, this does not just improve 900 individual people’s lives, it improves over 900 families. That’s a component that’s critically important to me and that I always believe in.

Ottawa has often seen the North as its breadbasket, whether in the past or present and I can definitely tell you in the future. They always see the resources of what the North has to offer it. I would hope they would recognize the resource in the people that we can train to be self-sufficient. Because they depend on our economy roaring and if we get the oil and gas or mining training industries up here, it’s always a struggle to employ people who have the qualified skills to do so. This program through the Mine Training Society speaks to that need and certainly, again, allows people to take those opportunities.

I need not lecture anyone in this House about, you know, I’ve been here almost eight years and it seems like whenever we get something good going, something exciting, and it has a great thrust, there always seems to be a sunset looming over a particular program. I would hate for that to be the case for this initiative. I think the timing of the motion is probably of an excellent time as it rolls in, because this motion gives the Minister a year to work on a replacement to the program and this initiative.

In closing, I want to say that I feel strongly that the contribution of these individuals who have improved their lives will bring new opportunity not just to the North but to the communities and, as I’ve pointed out, to the families. The Mine Training Society has built a strong reputation to getting Northerners

skilled for jobs that are in significant demand in our Territory and our industry. With that, as I mentioned, I will be voting in favour of it.