I just want to recognize the dedication of the staff of PWK and of the elementary school in Fort Smith. You know, a lot of that time and effort, even in the Phoenix program, they can bring their children there at night. And a lot of the programming is done at night. And, you know, the staff are very dedicated to what they do at both schools.

And the one thing that is outstanding, of course, is the replacement of the 65-year-old school with -- the elementary school. There's got to be a start at some point. And, you know, I don't want to take away from any other school. Any school that's built for the betterment of students in the North is a plus. I'm not going against any other place except that that was a federal day school that -- and there's a link to the residential school. I was part of that; I went to school there also. And I just want to make sure that we keep those things in mind, and I'm sure that the Minister has a good overview of what happens, and it seems like he does. I will tell you when you're not because that's just the way I am. I've always been very honest about what I feel because I'm very happy about what's happening with education. And it's up to the whole community to make -- to make sure that the child is developing in the right way. And we all have to take part in that.

And a lot of my volunteer work was at the high school because everybody likes to volunteer for the elementary school. So all through the years since 1995, my volunteer work was with the high school, and everybody says oh, the kids are older. So I always did a lot of volunteer work with the high school, and I just want to commend the people that are there. And I know this coming year we're going to lose an important person at that school, and that's Al Karasiuk, he's retiring. And that guy, I mean, you know, he's -- he'd go around the clock with the students if he had to, to make them successful. And I really appreciate that.

And education is the most important thing you can give. You can have everything else in the world but if you don't have the grounds for -- and the background for the education, it could be a big, big problem. And education's the most important department, I think, for the future of the NWT and the economy. And I just want to thank the Minister for all the things that he said in the last little while, even with the other things that we just discussed. I didn't go into because everybody else was involved in that. And I think this is a well thought out department. Thank you, Madam Chair.