Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]
Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about school absenteeism in the smaller aboriginal communities. Mr. Speaker, our dedicated educators in the smaller communities are continually faced with the challenges of getting students to attend school on a regular basis. There are many factors outside the school that contribute to this very serious problem. On this front, I know that community education councils in these communities are doing the best they can to address the issue. However, Mr. Speaker, there are many other community education issues that need more immediate attention. One such issue is funding.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to know what we, as a government, are doing to address this issue. What type of supports does this government have in place for addressing the issue of absenteeism? What resources have we committed? What plans do we have in place that support the schools, that support the community education councils to help them address student absenteeism and to address the factors of student absenteeism?
Mr. Speaker, I know this could be a complex issue. For example, the problem could very well originate in the home and the quality of the parenting in the home with lack of support a child is getting or it could be a case of different cultures. Maybe some families in these smaller aboriginal communities are choosing to take their children out of school for certain periods of time to go out on the land to pass important traditional traditions on to their children.
Mr. Speaker, I hear this government making all kinds of effort for supporting industry, for supporting both renewable and non-renewable harvesting exploration extraction. I would like to see this government add to this effort and include additional and immediate support in the schools and education councils in the smaller aboriginal communities for addressing student absenteeism.
I can see this being a collective effort by the Department of Education and also the Department of Health and Social Services. Later today I will have questions for the Minister of Education. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.
