Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to clearly state for the residents of Fort Smith that it was not my intention to portray all residents of the community of Fort Smith in a negative light. As we all know very well, it is usually the actions of a few individuals and not the community that causes this type of issue to rise to the surface. Those are the people to blame for this problem. Those who have chosen to make the lives of others miserable need to be brought to task.
Since I have made the concerns of my constituents public, I have been approached by even more people with similar concerns and stories about their experiences regarding incidents that have either occurred to them or their loved ones. Yesterday I had 15 messages from around the North on my phone from people who wanted to share their experience and talk about it.
Mr. Speaker, a real opportunity is before us. There is clearly a problem that needs to be addressed. It cannot be swept under the rug or ignored in hopes that it will go away. The issue is real, and it must be confronted. As I mentioned yesterday on CBC radio, I am working on a survey of former students relating to their experiences. I want to hear both good and bad experiences. And with that, I’ve had several offers from our community to help make sure that this survey gets off the ground.
Mr. Speaker, I commit to sharing the results of this survey with the local MLA for Thebacha, with the Minister of EC&E, with the town of Fort Smith and the council, and certainly with the management of Aurora College.
I quickly spoke to Mayor Martselos this morning, for whom I have a lot of respect, and I assured him I would make that statement today to make sure that the concerns are not about the community as a whole but needs to be focussed directly at those that are causing the problems. I agree with his concerns, and I certainly am making that statement to make sure he knows I have heard his statement.
Mr. Speaker, my goal is to work with all parties to find a collective solution to address this concern. It’s about the students and safety, and that’s all it is about.
Mr. Speaker, when we stand in this House and raise issues and talk, what we say and how we say it has a tremendous impact not only in this House but outside of this House, in the communities, where many, many people watch avidly what happens in this House. It has a great impact.
Earlier in the week the comments in the statement by the Member from Yellowknife Centre reverberated through the community of Fort Smith and caused a tremendous furor that I’m still feeling the effects of today.
There are constructive ways to raise issues, and then there are destructive ways to raise issues. I would have to classify the Member’s statement made earlier in the week as more destructive in nature.
I do appreciate his comments in the House today as being much more constructive and helping to put oil on some of the troubled waters. But to be sure, the people of Fort Smith were offended. They do very highly treasure and value the college and the students who come to the community.
The college is celebrating its 39th anniversary this year. In those 39 years there has been a presence in Fort Smith. At the start of this college, it used to be called Adult Vocational Training. Thousands of students have gone through there.
On this side of the House, I look around. There are graduates in this House that have gone to the college, myself included, when I was doing my apprenticeship training.
Mr. Speaker, this is an issue of great importance to my community that I want to raise in this House. As I said earlier in the week, I have to be able to speak for the people that I represent. I have to be able to speak for the people of the college.
And while we want to raise issues, we have to keep in mind we have to get all the facts and we have to get all the details. We have to look at all the numbers, including all the people who have gone through the college.
Harkening back to my younger days, I know that if you go to a strange community, and if you go out and engage in extracurricular activities…. It doesn’t matter if it’s Fort Smith, Hay River, Inuvik, Yellowknife. If you engage in extracurricular activities and alcohol is involved and you’re looking the wrong way at the wrong person, or asking the wrong person to dance….
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
Unanimous consent granted.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
If you ask the wrong person to dance, there’s a chance that things may happen that you didn’t anticipate. That’s an unfortunate reality in every community. I don’t think it’s specific to Fort Smith. There’s a shared responsibility here.
Mr. Speaker, I want to conclude my statement by once again thanking the Member for clarifying his comments; encouraging him to accept the invitation to come to the community; and pointing out that the college is a very high-class operation that has lots of good people working there, and it is very, very important to all the people of Fort Smith.
Applause.
