Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning I read in a newspaper ad, “To be proud of your history, you must know it. Education builds roots to the past that will open pathways to the future.” I thought about this quote because I want to talk about the graduates from Aurora College 2014, students that have undergone extreme conditions of hardship, sacrifice, but with the passion and enthusiasm to get an education for themselves and for their families; students who made the sacrifice to be away from home, away from family for a year, two years, three years, four years; students who
know what it means to pack up their house, move it to a new location and having housing issues, having housing for their family; students who know that there is funding, but there is limited funding, not enough; students who take on extra jobs; students who ask the land corps, the band, the Metis organizations for funding; families who have been separated because the father or mother has to stay home and work to support their family going to school.
I know a student in Fort Smith. The father is working in Colville Lake and the mother is raising five children and taking a bachelor of education degree. Students who yet make these sacrifices, knowing that something good will come out of these sacrifices. Those are the words that the elders have taught us. You make a sacrifice into something good.
Education is our tool that will keep us alive today, just as the ones we once used on the land to survive. We are changing over time and adapting so that we can use the value of learning that remains the core of who we are.
Today I want to acknowledge our Aurora College graduates, Aurora College itself and the staff, to say how proud we are to see our students in colleges and to see the completion of their studies.
I want to name the 10 students. From the Sahtu at the North Slave campus: Cheryl Kelly from Deline, Helen Menaco from Deline, Helen Batelle from Deline, and our own Miss Lovely, Cheryl Yakeleya from Tulita. At Thebacha Campus: Violet Edgi from Fort Good Hope, Janelle Perriot from Fort Good Hope, Martha Stewart from Fort Good Hope, Sylvia Clement from Norman Wells, Robin Tagisou from Deline, and my niece Laura Krutko from Deline. These graduates have made a contribution to the people in the communities and for themselves.
Lastly, I want to acknowledge, Mr. Speaker, and I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted