Thank you.
Just to fill in a little bit of space very briefly, there are some very promising developments, economic partnerships with first nations communities, that we believe will drive...in that vast region, including the Ring of Fire, where there's an exciting mining project. Farther out, in the most westerly section, there are forestry initiatives that are fully integrated with first nations communities as limited partners or majority owners. That will drive much of the change for improving the energy sustainability of those communities and the access.
It's worth pointing out that I've never been in an isolated community where the people aren't proud of their heritage in that region and the historical life they've led there. Certainly we have just recently introduced a program, in cooperation with the private sector, specifically with the Northern Store, that affects a large part of the communities here to reduce the costs of these foods. It is, and remains, a significant challenge. I know: I've purchased milk at $16 a carton, so I can appreciate that.
I want to talk a little bit more, for the last few minutes here, Karen and Darlene, about something that's very near and dear to me. Just before I was elected, I was working ambitiously with Pikangikum, Mishkeegogamang, and KI, and had spoken, after being elected, with Muskrat Dam about maternal and child health. As you know, there's core funding for those programs. One of the challenges we faced there was that although there was an allotment for education, it was difficult to get programs that trained people to work in the maternal and child health program, which can identify some of the things this committee is preoccupying itself with around homes where there's the potential for breakdown, which may lead to some violence.
Early childhood development is a diploma program that you offer. Of course, I've worked closely with Oshki and Confederation College to develop the precursor courses for people to do maternal and child health and early childhood development. When it comes to governance for women, as my colleague rightly identified, having an opportunity for families to have day care facilities in their communities.... A number of ours do, and they're actually quite nice facilities, I might add. But the training of these folks is key, and it remains one of the biggest challenges.
Despite our investments in first nations training and a variety of other skill sets, and the great work you're doing, we still have some challenges that we're trying to address in these regards. Can you talk about the number of people who are in your program, some of the specific challenges they face, and some of the tools they use to be educated in those isolated and remote communities? I believe this is fundamental. It gives women an opportunity to work in their communities and take up jobs. It also increases the prospects for governance, as that sort of intellectually evolves as an idea.
Can you speak to that, Darlene, specifically to early childhood development?