Thank you very much. That's a really great segue.
I will also say—and I didn't want to lose sight of this—that our commitment to funding Jordan's principle and making sure that every child gets the support through Jordan's principle, ending generations of neglect on behalf of governments at all levels towards first nations children, is also helping with education and retention in school systems and with supports for families who want to make sure their kids can succeed.
In terms of post-secondary education, this is something that, as I mentioned, is near and dear to my heart. In communities that have the capacity—for example, with own-source revenue to augment the supports from the federal government—to ensure that every student who has the ability to go to post-secondary training or education can actually get there and can stay enrolled in those schools, you can see that what actually happens is that people graduate with the skills that are needed to run communities. People come back as nurses, accountants, lawyers, doctors, civil engineers and construction workers, and communities begin to thrive because residents themselves are taking control over their communities and are able to run them in a way that is indigenous-centred and trusted by the communities.
I look at the community of Biigtigong in my own riding, which made a commitment 40 to 50 years ago to ensure that every child who wanted to access post-secondary could. They have a wraparound program whereby they make sure that children are attached to community members, so that if they're struggling while they're away for school, they can connect with community and remind themselves again about why they're doing this and who they are, in a culturally appropriate way. Those students are coming back. Fifty years later, that community has teachers from Biigtigong, nurses from Biigtigong, water operators from Biigtigong and construction workers from Biigtigong. They have a number of economic development opportunities, including the approval of a mine in a joint project with the nearby Town of Marathon.
That's the kind of potential that communities have when we see post-secondary students succeed. It has been a priority for me as the minister to make sure that I impress this on my colleagues: that we need to continue our journey to ensure that the supports are there.
Students are entitled to Canada student loans and grants, which, by the way, we doubled. Children, young people and adults who are in poverty and are first-time applicants for Canada student loans and grants are going to get more money for the tuition aspect and some of the living expenses, but there is often a need for additional supports. That's to make sure we can retain people in environments that oftentimes are very new and different, and are difficult for people to stay in.