Mr. Speaker, having a neighbouring riding in northern Ontario and sharing communities along the James Bay and Hudson Bay coast, I appreciate the member's experience and perspective in this regard.
With all due respect to Shannen, I can assure him that there are a number of children and great first nation leaders in northern Ontario who have certainly been a motivation for me and other parliamentarians to ensure that new schools and new training facilities are being built. For example, Pikangikum and Confederation College is working in co-operation with the community for the exciting Whitefeather forest management program, one of the rare relationships that will provide important training. As a signatory to the Indian residential school agreement, I am hopeful there will not be a need for an apology.
My question for the hon. member is this. Outside of a pure education, does the member agree with me that there are other things that are important, particularly given the vastness of northern Ontario, that add to a child's education, like communications, access to radio and newspapers through Wawatay? Does he support the commitment that our government has made to ensure these kinds of communications reach out to those communities and provide important forums and a life-learning forum that is also important to getting a good education?