Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning I had the opportunity to attend an announcement made by the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency. What she announced this morning is very joyous for the community of Inuvik in terms of community infrastructure, federal funding for the Children’s First Centre that we’ve had a strong group working for over the years.
That was great news in terms of making this project become a reality. The community of Inuvik and the staff at the Children’s First Society have been working very hard and have been very dedicated to get this off the ground, and I believe, this summer it should become a reality and be opening its doors. It will have about 120 spots available for the growing need of child care spaces. Not only that, it is going to create jobs in the construction of the building and ongoing jobs for running the centre itself.
At this time, with the great news that came out this morning, I’d just like to offer my congratulations and a heartfelt thank you to the people of Inuvik for their
ongoing support for the children’s centre, for all the hard work that they do, the tireless efforts, the long hours, the volunteering hours that they put in day in and day out to get the funding to make this centre a reality.
I would also like to thank the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of CanNor, and the Government of Canada for their ongoing support on improving community infrastructure in the Northwest Territories. This is one project that I have seen, I’ve volunteered for, I’ve also helped at some of the events, and this is something that is truly needed in Inuvik. If we are going to look at decentralization, we’re looking at bringing families into the community of Inuvik to become professionals and become part of the community, child care services are essential and it’s great to see this type of infrastructure become reality.
Like I said again, I just want to congratulate all the hardworking people with the Children’s First Society on the record, and all the leaders and lobbyists for getting this funding and ongoing funding that’s going to make our children healthier, and our community healthier, and bring economic prosperity. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.