Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to talk about the investment of our children and the people in our communities, especially in the community of Deline. Investment in our education, in our people, is very, very critical. I met with the Deline leadership this morning and they talked solely on the investment of their children, to the point where in 1995 was the first time the government said to the community we want to bring Grade 12 into your communities. The people in Deline said yes, providing you bring the resources that allow sufficient Grade 12 programs. Nothing to this date has honoured that commitment.
The people in Deline say we do like Grade 12 but the resources are not there. We only had three extra teachers that have come along. But the education is not the same type of education they have in Yellowknife or Hay River or Inuvik. We are still waiting for the resources. This is why students are being sent to Yellowknife, where the parents have to pay their housing, their food, their airline tickets, and the government will not help them get a better education.
It has been proven just today, as Mr. Ramsay talked about in his statement about education being a key point to economic growth, sustainability, wealth and prosperity. People in Deline also are reminded of that. People in Deline know that the quality of education makes it all worthwhile in their community. They have ?ehtseo Ayha School. They say we need to rebuild that school and have a quality of education brought into our communities. We have not heard anything since 1995. The government’s going to bring that type of education into the communities. That’s why they said we’re not too sure, but we were okay by having this Grade 12 come in our communities. They want to come back to the government and say are we going to get the same type of facilities and resources in our communities if you’re going to give us Grade 12, because now students and parents are sending their kids out to Inuvik, Fort Smith and Yellowknife to get the kind of quality of education they want to see their children get.
I will have questions for the Minister on this topic.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
