Just last week the Inuvik Learning Centre had their completion ceremony, which is a ceremony that I usually try to take part in, because I’m very proud of these folks. A lot of them dropped out of school years ago and decided that education is the key to their future. They decided to go back to school and try to upgrade so they can possibly get into college or get into a trade. It’s always a good time for celebration for these people.
This year, Mr. Speaker, I think that celebration is a little bit more magnified, because this may be the last year that they’re celebrating their completion ceremony out of the Learning Centre. The facility that they’re in now is another facility being proposed to be closed down in Inuvik. This is a very important facility to these people. They have as many as 70 students taking part in the courses that they offer there. I’m not quite sure how many completed last week, but I understand there were quite a few.
The students there had written a letter to the previous Minister of Education, and to quote a couple of lines from their letter, they talk about how everybody always talks about education and how important it is. These folks have realized that education is important to their future, their children’s future, and that’s why they decided to go out and try and further their education. They also go on to say that they need to be respected, that they are the future of self-government, the future of government. I know a lot of these folks personally. They’ve overcome a lot of adversity to get to where they are.
It’s just another example of a facility being closed down in Inuvik. I’ve said it before — Inuvik’s being hit hard. We lost both ball fields last fall; we lost our tennis court; we lost our soccer field because of the supposed planning of our new school, which is behind schedule. Inuvik’s going to have to go the next year, possibly two, without these types of recreation facilities. They have a very serious concern with the closure of the Learning Centre. They want to know if there’s anything that we can do to make sure that this centre stays open.
At the appropriate time later on I will have questions for the Minister of Education.
