Thank you, Mr. Chair. First, I would like to acknowledge the work of the Honourable Members of the Standing Committee on Social Development. They spent a tremendous amount of time making sure this legislation and the public interest, and it was well-represented through their deliberations, and ultimately, through the substantive report that they created and read into the House earlier this week. This act will bring both junior kindergarten into the NWT curriculum, and reduce the number of instructional hours required by law. Those are the most significant portions of it.

It has been a hot topic of debate in our 33 communities. Many different viewpoints rising to the forefront. Ultimately, junior kindergarten has largely been well understood by the public. The strengthening instructional teacher practices, the STIP pilot, is somewhat of a new development for many people although we have been discussing it for several months. To be clear, I think our teachers are world class, and they work in very difficult circumstances here in the North. Given the limited resources that we have at our means, providing them with the flexibility to do their jobs to the best of their ability, I think is a very good policy decision.

I do acknowledge the concerns that the Standing Committee on Social Development has brought forward, and I appreciate what they have set out in their report and the recommendations they have made, and I look forward to debating their proposed amendments later on today. I would like to keep an open mind on legislation. I certainly do support the intentions of this bill, but if there are ways to make it better, I am open to considering those. But I do want to say, I strongly support the hardworking teachers of Kam Lake and all of our communities, and I am very pleased to see that we are working on solutions to the challenges they face every day as they are educating our students and supporting our families. Thank you, Mr. Chair.