Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to thank the witnesses for being with us this afternoon.
I have to say that prior to becoming a member of Parliament, I was a teacher in a public school for 33 years. Following that, I taught for four years on a reserve after I retired. I felt that retirement wasn't for me, that I needed to go and make myself useful. So I went to a reserve and taught there.
Now in my constituency I have three reserves and I am very proud to say that all those three schools have the highest commendations and the highest technology, which I know because I have visited them since becoming a member of Parliament. The school that I taught at had been requesting a new school because they needed some repairs made to it and they were looking for that while I was there those four years, but it wasn't disastrous. There were things that needed to be repaired, like the electrical system and things like that. So I'm proud to say that as soon as I did get here, our government listened to me, and we have a brand new school there that I'm about to open in a few weeks.
These things provide a lot to our children back home on the reserve, and I'm happy and proud to see these kids enjoying such accommodations. It's good not just for the girls and the boys but also for the teachers. It gives them great ambition to go ahead and provide these kids with lots of different programs, which I have seen first hand.
Now of course this new school that we're about to open has breakfast in the morning and lunch at the cafeteria and everything. These are things that students on reserves need to have at their fingertips. They get a three course dinner at this new school for a dollar each. That is a very, very good program being provided by our government. There are some success stories out there, no doubt, with that.
But my question is, why do you see such a big difference from one area to another? I can visit any one of those three schools and be proud about what is going on there, and be proud about the accommodations and the work by teachers and volunteers in the community. Why is there such a big difference from one area to another? Being a teacher, I'm going to be the first to say that I don't like to see boys or girls lose out on a good opportunity for education. But why is it that some areas are doing so well and another has nothing? Is it financial mismanagement? Is there something that our government should be looking at to make things better for all?