Mr. Speaker, I thank the member from Manitoba for his intervention and for his support for improving educational outcomes for first nations people across this country. His concerns are reflected in the concerns that I hear from parents of first nations students in my riding.
The priority for parents who have kids in first nations schools is that the quality of education be equivalent to that in provincial schools. They want to be assured that if kids move from grade 1 or grade 2 in a reserve school to a provincial school and then, some time later, move back to the reserve school, the kids will see a reflection of the same type of curriculum, the same standards. They want to be assured that the teachers are qualified to be teaching, that there is a standard of curriculum equivalent to the provincial system, and that they have the resources to ensure those things can actually be implemented and maintained.
It is important that those things happen. Those things do not just naturally happen through simply shoveling money at the issue. It is absolutely essential that there be funding to ensure that those things happen, but it is an absolute necessity to ensure that the framework exists to channel those funds toward resolving the concerns felt by first nations parents and leaders within our communities.