Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his commitment to his community and his interest in working with us on these important goals.
Certainly, improving the educational outcomes of first nation students is a shared task. It is a shared priority among governments, first nations, educators, families, students and members here. That is why we continue to invest roughly $1.5 billion annually in elementary and secondary programs for about 117,500 first nation students across Canada. With budget 2012, we are investing an additional $275 million for first nations education over three years, $100 million of which would be used to provide early literacy programming and other supports and services to first nations schools and strengthen their relationship with provincial school systems.
We intend to continue to work with our provincial partners to ensure that first nations have in place the necessary programming, structures and resources that will allow them to transfer between first nation and provincial schools without academic penalty.
Without a doubt, our government is making progress toward ensuring first nations have access to the same educational opportunities as other Canadians.