Mr. Speaker, Thomas Berger's final report, “The Nunavut Project”, for the Government of Canada and Nunavut and the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. states that my unique territory drastically needs to increase Inuit employment and provide an effective Inuktitut-English bilingual education system.
Seventy-six percent of Inuit youth drop out of school compared to a national average of 25%. Without a basic education and competency in Inuktitut or English, Inuit youth are not reaching their potential. That results in high unemployment, while bringing in other workers costs taxpayers tens of millions of dollars per year.
Instead of spending millions on Arctic defence, surely it should be spent on Inuit employment and bilingual education.
As Inuit become more involved in their own governance and territorial development, Canada's sovereignty is asserted.
It is imperative that the Kelowna accord plus Mr. Berger's essential recommendations for Nunavut be implemented without hesitation.