Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Teachers and schools was an important focus today with the Education Hall of Fame ceremonies. I want to continue that theme today by raising, once again, the need for new schools in Trout Lake and Nahanni Butte. I hope that they can begin their school year with some news of progress towards the creation of new schools in those communities.
I know you remember that the Nahanni Butte school is an old log building and the people of Trout Lake technically don’t have a school. They are still using the recreation centre there. This has been going on for years now and it’s very frustrating for the parents, teachers and students in both communities.
Earlier this year the Education Minister informed me that work on replacing the Charles Yohin School in Nahanni Butte will not begin until 2016, four or five years from now. It is an even longer wait in Trout Lake. Work on the new Charles Tetcho School is not scheduled to begin until 2018-19.
The whole generation of students will be stuck in the current inadequate facilities. It pains me to hear all this talk about our priorities for healthy, educated people and our strategy for Aboriginal student achievement even as the basic learning environments are neglected in Nahanni Butte and Trout Lake.
Students in our small communities deserve the same opportunities as in the larger centres. If this government is actually going to deliver on its stated priorities, we will finally see some action on putting schools in Trout Lake and Nahanni Butte. I will be pushing for that as we move into planning for the next capital budget.
Later today I will ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment if he is making any real progress for these communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
