Masi, Madam Chair. We have had tremendously successful programs over the years, and we continue to still see them. Great work has been done in the past. We are continuing to carry that forward. With this particular area, I obviously would like to know if there has been an actual survey of the students across the Northwest Territories on this initiative, if there is a favourable response from the public. I am not just talking about organizations; I am talking about the people of the North, if they are in favour of creating a university in Yellowknife.
We have three campuses. The Minister alluded to how we are building on top of the three campuses. Not if we are creating this university stand-alone campus and having three additional existing campuses. The social work program has been taken away from us. The recreation program is another one. These are just some of the programs that have been successful in the past, but there has been a lack of interest. We should have a clear idea why there is a lack of interest from the general public of the Northwest Territories. A lot of students are going south. We all know that. I went south for university. My kids did, too. If we go around the room here, a lot of our kids have gone off to southern institutions, for various reasons. One of them is the choice that they have.
We will have, eventually, according to the Minister and the Premier, a stand-alone campus here in Yellowknife, a university type, and the three campuses will still continue, but we are not really expanding on the existing campuses that we have, in my view, anyways, if we are strictly focusing on this polytechnic university over the next six years. Who knows? It could be the next 10 years, 15 years. We do not know because we want this to be a perfect institution in the Northwest Territories, in Yellowknife, Madam Chair.
I am not sure what else I can say about this particular area, but one of our prime focuses should be our students in secondary, giving them more opportunities for them to graduate grade 12 and even further, and give them options if they are going to attend our campuses here in the Northwest Territories or south, and building up on the three main campuses and 21 learning centres across the Northwest Territories. That is my view, and I am still questioning this very initiative, this mandate. We have raised that issue before, but obviously, a majority rules. It is here before us, and so we will be discussing it further. Just more of a comment, Madam Chair, at this point. Masi.