Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise today and congratulate Carol Windley of Nanaimo for her recent nomination to the short list for the 2006 Giller prize. Carol's collection of short stories, Home Schooling, is set on rural Vancouver Island and the Pacific northwest.
This is a quote from Carol on her home, “I find that this part of the world with the forests, the shorelines and all that complexity that's available to the imagination, lends itself wonderfully to writing fiction”, and I could not agree more.
It is unfortunate that in the same month we celebrated Carol's achievement in Nanaimo--Cowichan, we learned the Conservatives had cut literacy programs. This may end many people's opportunities to develop the skills to read and enjoy Carol's work.
From youth whose home life made school difficult, to adults whose reading skills have grown rusty, to brain injured people relearning the most basic skills, literacy programs are important to everyone.
I call on the Conservative government to reinstate the funds for literacy programs so everyone can have the opportunity to read Carol's book.