Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided]
Mr. Speaker, this summer the Deh Cho Hall in Fort Simpson will be demolished. The building that dates back to the late 1950s has housed many different activities over the years.
The Deh Cho Hall was originally named the Lapointe Hall. It was part of the residential school system. Many Northerners were students at this facility. Until recently it was the home of the ECE support office and the Open Door Society. It also housed Aurora College, and several other local organizations benefited from that space. Most notably, I should add it was the John Tsetso Memorial Library, which still needs a home. It is a monument to the past and a symbol of the era of residential schools.
Many aboriginal people have been working on healing in order to find closure to their personal residential school experience. It is a very interesting parallel that as reconciliation is about forgetting the past, taking down the Deh Cho Hall seems to be a way of literally taking down walls and shaking off the past. Taking this building down is a means of moving forward. On one hand we are removing a legacy and on the way out creating new positive ones.
Fort Simpson did get a new ECE administrative building to house all our education needs and is now becoming a central place. The demolition is turning out to be a huge employment opportunity. A local company, Nogha Enterprises Limited, has been awarded a contract to demolish the building. This contract will provide 25 jobs to the community and these jobs will give a lift to our economy. They will have the ability to learn new skills, and employability in other areas.
Every time I hear about new jobs in Nahendeh, I know that constituents and the community will be happy. This will remove a very big building and change the face of Fort Simpson, and I am hopeful we can use the space for new future infrastructure. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
