Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Human Resources, the Honourable Bob McLeod. Clearly, the Members on this side of the House are very interested in helping our students obtain meaningful employment during their short summer. This work helps them afford to go to school and be successful in their studies. Clearly, we would like to see some progress in the areas this summer. Clearly, you can hear from all the Members, the message is quite loud and crystal clear, that this government must do better, and we’re prepared to help support that type of initiative. We collectively want more opportunities for students in all communities and these opportunities provide great work experience for the students. However, it isn’t a one-time challenge over each year. As a result, we would like to see this government commit to more proactive approaches in the coming years. Will the Minister of Human Resources commit to developing a summer student employment strategy for future years to maximize northern student employment opportunities across public, private and NGO sectors, and ensure that the benefits of bilingual students are appropriately recognized and reflected in hiring practices subject to our Affirmative Action Policy?
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. A couple of questions there, actually. The honourable Minister responsible for Human Resources, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We always do transitional arrangements for the incoming government, and absolutely, if I get the concurrence of all of the Members that this summer student strategy is important to make it a part of the transition information, then I will do so. We will be discussing this at future meetings. We’re quite prepared to do that.
Clearly, this is an important issue. A summer student employment strategy is a very passionate issue, provided by the comments and questions by the Members of this House to the government. If the Minister of Human Resources is willing to accept a letter on behalf of all Members to encourage him to act upon this immediately, would he be willing to act upon it if the Members of this side of the House committed that strongly in writing to cause action right away?
Once I receive such a letter, we’ll proceed with the utmost speed.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
