Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to talk about an organization that is near and dear to the hearts of many families in Hay River and has been for the last 22 years. Growing Together is a non-profit organization that offers free programs for parents and their children aged zero to five. Before Growing Together, there was very little in terms of parenting programs in Hay River. I believe there was one that parents could attend once or twice a month.

Today, Growing Together offers a variety of programs throughout the week, and they are always well attended. It is not uncommon to see two or three dozen children in attendance with their mothers, and some day-home operators, as well. When I visited, there were 50 kids, 19 adults, and three staff members. Last year, 275 mothers and children attended the program throughout the year. There is no doubt that it is popular.

However, ECE has decided to revamp its Healthy Children Initiative, which is the funding pot that has made these programs possible for the last 22 years. The new criteria has shifted focus and no longer supports parenting programs. Funding to programs like Growing Together will be phased out over the next three years. On April 1^st, Growing Together will receive 25 percent less funding than it did this year. The year after, it will receive 50 percent less. The year after that, it will take another hit until it finally receives nothing in the fourth year.

Mr. Speaker, earlier I said that this program was near and dear to the hearts of many. That was a bit of an understatement. When the folks at Growing Together found out that their funding was going to be cut, they invited me to meet with some of the mothers who attend their programs so I could hear directly from them.

Mr. Speaker, I have been to quite a few public meetings, so I know that it can be tough to get people out. However, on a Tuesday evening when it was minus 30, over 20 mothers and day-home providers showed up to let me know just how important these programs are. It was quite a touching evening.

They spoke about what Growing Together means to them, about how valuable it is for their children, about how valuable the emotional support offered by the other mothers is, about how having these programs and this community as a constant has helped their mental health, about how they can share stories and get advice from other mother who have been through the same things, and so on. Mr. Speaker, in the end we received 30 letters of support, which I have passed on to the Minister.

Mr. Speaker, this is a program worth saving. I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment about how we can do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.