Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over these past few weeks Members have spent much of our time in this House talking about the importance of empowering parents, children, and communities to actively participate in how their children's education unfolds. This means empowering parents to choose language education classes for their children, whether Gwich'in or Inuvialuktun. It means empowering parents to choose which pre-kindergarten program best suits their child, whether junior kindergarten, Aboriginal Head Start, or another.

The junior kindergarten motion that we carried in this House on the 26th of October shows our commitment to choice and access to the best possible programming for NWT parents and children. This motion calls on the government to recognize that a one-size-fits-all approach won't work for all communities, especially communities with current and thriving programs, but smaller populations. Fort McPherson, for example, has a long-running and successful Aboriginal Head Start program, run by fully trained staff.

Mr. Speaker, we know that the department's recent study of junior kindergarten found that many program providers, including the teachers and experts who run Aboriginal Head Start, felt that their program had not been valued or respected. Before this sitting ends and we return to our ridings, Mr. Speaker, I want to make sure, that these early childhood educators know Members do value their important work with children in the NWT and I will continue to defend it in this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.