Debates of May 19, 2011 (day 11)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has a five-year mandate, and that is to examine the legacy of the residential schools in Canada. Inuvik will host this historical healing moment of our past. We have a lot of GNWT employees who have been impacted by the residential schools and the effects it has caused. I want to ask the Premier how will our government support them in this Truth and Reconciliation event in Inuvik.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a number of ways we’re supporting the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, their work in helping the healing process. Through our workforce, we’re setting up for the volunteer basis that those who volunteer, we will support that initiative. Those who are attending as clients or those who will be attending as delegates, we’ve provided a process for that to occur. In a number of cases, whether it’s office space in kind, as well as trying to help with dealing with the 1,000 potential delegates that will be in the community, we’re helping in a number of ways. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the residential school has been a very tough issue for a lot of communities. The residential school has also contributed to a lot of violence, a lot of addictions and a lot of different forms of abuses in our communities. As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, in 1998, when I did some of my training, a consultant from Santa Cruz, California, said to me that the residential school was a real festering ground for these kinds of things to happen in the communities. I didn’t understand what he said, not until today.

Mr. Speaker, we know personally that some of these survivors are in jails; they are inmates at the correctional centres. I want to ask the Premier how will he allow the inmates to have the opportunity to participate at this Truth and Reconciliation process. Thank you.

Thank you. The process underway is working with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. They’re running and we’re supporting them in their work and delivery within the community. I can’t speak to it and I’d have to find out if there’s a process of if they’ve invited those within our correctional facilities. I think that when you look at the programs and services, that we do provide those who are in the facilities the counselling opportunities, on the land. In cases, we’ve reached out and tried to provide our own counselling over the years.

When this became a growing matter across Canada and the North, a number of departments got together to try and focus some of its programs to deal with those who’ve gone through residential schools. Thank you.

Thank you. It’s my understanding that Education, Culture and Employment has been the lead department to monitor and coordinate the GNWT’s support with the TRC Commission. I want to ask the Premier, through the Department of Education and Culture, collecting the archives and the photographs and putting this historical event together for the survivors and the community, if this even, or this collection at the end of the TRC process, will be made available to all the residents for a show and explain the history to the people at any public venue that could be sponsored by this government.

Thank you. We will, as we’ve done our own work in this, and being supportive of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission process, we’re going to be working with them to see how we can pool this together and come out with some process, documentation that we can, whether to showcase, put on display, have a historical record of it. We will work with them to see how we can pool that together. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Grollier Hall Residential School, Stringer Hall, opened in 1959. Grollier Hall closed in 1996; Stringer Hall in 1970. The community of Inuvik was part of our family. I wanted to ask the Premier what will he do to help the thousands of students -- there are 2,500 students that attended Grollier, and a number of students in the Sahtu and other outlying communities -- get to Inuvik. I know there’s a limited number. How can we help also with the students, the community of Inuvik, to do this healing? How can the Premier help fund the students to get there?

Thank you. We know that the groups have been working in the North with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and have been looking to get additional support for some of the travel costs. Right now we’re limited to what we can do in in-kind support or with volunteers, with office space, with residential occupancy areas of trying to make some of our facilities open to them. So that’s the extent of what we’ve been focusing on doing.

We don’t have a budget line right now for travel, for example, and we know that a number of groups have been working with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to see if they can expand their program. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.