Mr. Speaker, I am reminded of a well-known verse that it takes a community to raise a child. However, it could be said it takes a community to educate a child.
I have made several Member’s statements on and about the ?ehtseo School in Deline. Recently, I visited their school, last week. They need a new school. Knowing the financial conditions and situation in the Northwest Territories and what we are possibly facing in the coming years, there are overwhelming needs in our communities. We must think differently because of the needs. This will mean we can go further than beyond the financial words of “there’s not enough money in the pot,” or “it’s good to do, but where will you find the dollars?”
Mr. Speaker, the Deline school is falling apart. The joined floors between the gym and the foyer have a gap that’s covered up with a strip of tile so we don’t see the ground. The gym walls are leaning outwards and cracks are showing up in the walls. The floors are arching. If you were to put a ball in the middle of the floor, it would roll down pretty quickly to one end. In the classrooms, floors aren’t even. They are slanting down towards the outside. As I walked the halls to visit the classrooms, I became somewhat in a state of sea sickness because the floors were like waves on the lake.
The leadership would like to build a new school and they need our government as a partner to build it together. I will ask the Minister if he would look at a new partnership in building a new school for Deline. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
