Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to provide an update to Members on the National Summit on Post-Secondary Education and Skills I attended in Ottawa on February 24, 2006.

Mr. Speaker, in August 2005, the Council of the Federation recognized that governments, educational institutions and the private sector must work together to develop and implement a plan for higher education and skills training for Canadians. Premiers McGuinty and Charest were tasked with convening a summit of stakeholders to examine key issues and challenges in post-secondary education and skills to help shape the development of the Canada-wide strategy.

The national summit, called Competing for Tomorrow, provided the opportunity to invite key stakeholders to participate in a variety of sessions. The NWT delegation included Brenda McDonald, executive director of Aboriginal Futures; Jay MacDonald, chairperson of the Apprenticeship, Trades and Occupations Certification Board; Yacub Adam, acting chairperson of Aurora College Board of Governors; Mike Vaydik, general manager of the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines; and, Leon Lafferty, chairperson of the Mine Training Society. As you can see, this delegation is representative of key sectors including post-secondary education, apprenticeship and trades, mining, oil and gas development, and aboriginal human resource development.

At the summit in Ottawa, the NWT delegates participated in workshops where they expressed their perspectives and views on the challenges and needs of post-secondary education and skill development in the NWT. I would like to thank the five members of the NWT delegation for attending the summit and sharing the NWT points of view. This input, and that of the other stakeholders from across the country, will guide the Council of the Federation in developing a pan-Canadian strategy for post-secondary education and skills for Canada.

One of my colleagues stated during the summit that post-secondary education and skills are the engine that drives economic development. Nowhere is this more true than in the Northwest Territories where we have a great opportunity to build a sustainable future. It is my hope that a pan-Canadian strategy will:

include approaches to close the gap in education levels between aboriginal citizens and the general population;

address the need for the federal government to restore funding to at least the levels that they were in 1994-95; and

provide options and solutions to address the shortage of skilled workers, especially in western Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the completion of the post-secondary education and skills strategy to help people ensure that northerners and all Canadians are well equipped to thrive in the 21st Century economy.

---Applause