Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to say that reading the motion very carefully, it does say a reallocation of an additional $2 million, so there might be the appearance of, when the word is additional, it’s really meant addition to the programming, not necessarily to the overall bottom line of the budget. That’s the way I read it and I think that’s the way it was intended. I do hear Mr. Menicoche’s point, but that’s why I want to reaffirm I read it and I think a lot of other folks do as well.
That said, I think it’s given enough of a parameter and design with the flexibility to allow the department and certainly the government, through the – goodness, I hate to say this word – through the government’s wisdom, to find a way to do that. This is committee members trying to help support
the initiative that’s being led by the government and certainly by the Minister. I have yet to have a single person tell me that junior kindergarten isn’t important. This is re-profiling money, and sometimes we think we can offer the best advice, we know that sometimes if we just say look, this is clearly what we want, help us help you, and this is exactly what this is, is a motion that Members want to help government further the ideals and benefits of junior kindergarten. So again, this is just about re-profiling the money, reallocation within the government and we feel like $2 million is necessary to achieve the goals as prescribed.
We could talk at length, and as much as I would like to talk at length, we all know the benefits of junior kindergarten. Everyone is completely sold and I am an absolute believer in its benefits and I want to thank the department for building this into a giant pillar for long-term educational plans. That work is important. I admire the expertise they bring forward in the briefings. I mean, we have some top quality people providing this guidance and that should not go understated. We have got some really good insight on this. The only concern is we want to make sure that it gets off on the right start. This being, of course, good advice from Members of government, I would hope government would heed our advice and jump on it and say, my goodness, what a great idea. It’s not too familiar for government to think that way. They have every opportunity to agree with us, so I would like this to be the occasion. I believe a recorded vote has already been asked for, so there’s no sense in repeating that. Thank you.