Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I'm going to talk about something that is near and dear to my heart. Yes, you guessed it. Youth. For the past 28 years, my career has been focused on doing something for these special folks. I apologize to this individual, I don't have his name right now, but I'd like to share a revised quote that I've tried to live by throughout these years. For the government to realize the huge dividends our youth bring to us, we must take every step possible to invest in them empowerment, education, and employment of our young people. By investing in these three areas for youth, we are investing in our greatest resources in the NWT.
It isn't non-renewable or renewable resources that we have. Don't get me wrong. These resources are important, but they are not as important as our youth. To develop this resource we need to encourage youth to be the best they can be, to challenge them and help them challenge themselves to be successful. Whether they become doctors, teachers, tradespeople, hairdressers or stay-at-home parents, all these are important in our society. I have to say, the government does a great job in empowering our youth through our vast array of programs such as Youth Ambassadors an youth tours, an excellent school program both during and after school hours. We provide funding to non-government organizations who offer additional opportunities for our youth to grow and develop their talent and skills, then we look at what the government does to enhance education and funding for post-secondary, and we are two-thirds of the way there. However, when we look at the last piece of the puzzle, employment, we seem to be missing something. I look at how this government could help our young people, especially students in grade 12 and post-secondary programs that need summer employment, and I notice a gap. Then I look at the opportunities for the youth from smaller communities and see they have limited or no access to government positions where they live. They need to move to bigger centres to have a chance to land one of these positions. This does not seem fair.
In the past I've witnessed the government make it a priority to provide summer jobs for students so that they can financially be prepared to continue their education. A number of students and parents have asked me about the status of student summer jobs. I could not answer their questions. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to leave you today with the wise words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, “We cannot always build a future for our youth, but we can build our youth for our future.” Later on, I'll have questions for the Minister of Human Resources. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
