Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'm looking at the pages and I see some lines for Aboriginal languages, cultural component and sports events, early childhood programming, healthy food for children and youth. I see the partnership between the Aboriginal Head Start Program and the junior kindergarten in my region.
I'm going to talk from a small community perspective. I see the benefits of the program, how it's rolling out in the region. In January it just rolled out in one of the smallest communities in my region, and it's starting to benefit especially families who can't afford a babysitter sometimes, or sometimes there are no childcare services in the community, and I see the benefits of that and I support that.
You know, every program when you start to see it rolled out, it's never perfect. If we wait until everything is perfect, it will never roll out. So we need to start looking at how we can improve things, and I see this as a good opportunity for that.
I see Aboriginal languages. Last week there was an agreement between the Crown and the Inuit, and I hope that we can develop partnerships between the Inuit and Indigenous peoples with the GNWT to ensure that our Indigenous communities are getting a fair share of funding and they're working specifically for each region's culture and language.
Healthy food for children. I know the cost of living in my region is the highest. We need to ensure that the kids are fed with breakfast programs and programs alike that will help them just to concentrate in school. Sometimes when you're not fed, school is the last thing on your mind, and if you can feed the children you're making a difference for them to carry out their days.
I agree with Mr. Blake; he talked about on-the-land programs. We need to ensure that the cultural aspect of our community is never lost, and actually we need to strengthen those a little bit every opportunity we can. I know the Minister mentioned that there would be less class time and more time on the land; I think that's a huge benefit, especially in my region, where subsistence harvesting is a main staple for food. We don't have the opportunity or the likes of five or six grocery stores in one community; sometimes there's only one. One of the Members stated that there was nothing in one of his communities, so programs like that are important to roll out, and sometimes they don't alleviate the issue but as well again they contribute to the success of people, ensuring that their cultures stay strong and healthy in every aspect they can.
I don't have much more to say, but, you know, all in all in junior kindergarten I see the benefits in my region and I'd like to see how the Inuvialuit themselves and the GNWT work together to ensure that this program is refined more to the needs of the children, and also the parents. Junior kindergarten is not about just the kids. It's about the parents as well, too. It will help strengthen those bonds between teachers and parents and their children as they roll into kindergarten. Thank you, Mr. Chair.