Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for those of you old enough to remember, 1969 was a big year. The Vietnam War was on, Nixon was in office, The Beatles released Abbey Road, and the world watched Neil Armstrong take those first historic steps on the moon. Know what else happened that year? Moose Kerr School was built in Aklavik.
---Laughter
While all those other things have passed into history, Moose Kerr School, nearing 50 years of age, is still expected to serve the 160 students and 14 teachers working there. Samuel Hearne High School, which was also built in Inuvik at the same time as Moose Kerr, was demolished and replaced a couple of years ago. Despite its age, Moose Kerr is still standing, and my constituents and I want to know: When is the government going to do the right thing and replace this piece of aging infrastructure? The students who go to Moose Kerr deserve a learning environment that is modern, innovative, and above all, safe. I am concerned about the safety hazards posed by this old building. At the time this school was built, asbestos, a known carcinogen, was routinely used in building products. Samuel Hearne was built at the same time and in the same region, and was found to contain asbestos. It stands to reason that Moose Kerr poses this risk also. I am equally concerned about the risk posed by busy traffic around the school. Pedestrians and automobiles don't mix, and many parents in Aklavik are concerned that, unless a parking lot is built soon, someone is going to be seriously hurt in a traffic accident around Moose Kerr School. I have repeatedly asked for assurances in this House and have been told by the Minister of Education that the replacement of Moose Kerr is in the capital plan. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. Specifically, I was told in this House on February 21, 2014, that Moose Kerr School was scheduled for replacement and renovation in 2019, which is 20 years after its last major retrofit in 1999, and in keeping with capital planning specifications. Later today, I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on the status of this project.
