Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had to think long and hard about whether to give my reply to the opening address today. I realize that it has been a very busy and, at times, emotionally draining session, however, there are some
things that I need to say, and I can only develop those thoughts within the free context of this item on the order paper.
I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that I am aware that the House has its sights on completing its business, so that honourable Members can return to their home communities, and I do not wish to prolong this. In fact, Mr. Speaker, I believe that a good reply is like a ladies' evening gown. It should be long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to be interesting.
Seriously, Mr. Speaker, I will not object to people looking at their watches while I am speaking today, but I strongly object if they start shaking them to see if they are working. I hope the Premier heard that, Mr. Speaker.
Over the past nine years that I have been privileged to serve as a Member of this House, I have tended to give replies in which I have attempted to comment on a wide range of issues. This one will be different, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to talk about education.
Mr. Speaker, honourable Members will be aware that over the past few weeks, I have made a number of comments on this subject. Those honourable Members who read the Yellowknifer newspaper, and listen to C.B.C., may have heard some negative reaction to these comments. It is always discouraging when people misunderstand you when you are trying to say something important.
It is even more discouraging, I think, when that misunderstanding arises as a result of out of context reporting, and local politics. To me, it is an important issue, maybe one of the most important issues I have tried to raise during all my years as a politician. I believe that it is important to try one more time, or a hundred more times, if I have to, to get this message across.
Since I was in my teens, I have enjoyed reading the works of Mark Twain. One of his best sayings was, "Get your facts first, then, you can distort them as much as you please."
Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, I feel that some of the individuals who have commented on my position have not bothered to look into the facts. Here are some facts:
1. First, I have never argued for an immediate cancellation of the cultural education programs without our public school system. I have a different vision about how our aboriginal youngsters should learn about their traditions and their Dene, Inuit, or Metis lifestyles;
I hope that, over time, we will see some changes in the prevailing model, and I say that, because I believe in some ways the prevailing model is wrong;
I would not like to see my comments interpreted as suggesting that we should immediately slash funding for our existing programs;
If changes occur, they should take place gradually, and with the consent of the communities;
2. Here is the second fact. I believe in the importance of mainstream education. Self- government, economic development, political evolution, those words will hold no promise at all, unless aboriginal people are prepared to do business with the rest of the contemporary world;
Look at my voting record in this House, Mr. Speaker. I have never failed to support any reasonable appropriations of educational programming, including the existing cultural inclusion programs in our schools.
3. Here is the third fact. I have been a strong supporter of the Report of the Traditional Knowledge Working Group, which advocates using elders to enhance existing cultural education programs in schools, and including "traditional knowledge" within the school curriculum.
4. Here is the final fact. I am proud of the record that Elizabeth Ward School, and our Community Education Council have developed in terms of preparing our young Dene to move on to secondary education.
I have noticed the hard work that has been done by Margaret Thom, and Margaret Van Dell, in developing language and cultural education programs for our school. I want to be clear about this, Mr. Speaker. Whenever I have commented about looking for a different way of educating our Dene youth in Fort Providence, I have never meant to sound critical of the contribution that these talented, and hard working, teachers have made.
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When I hear of the way professionals like Margaret Thom and Margaret Van Dell have been acknowledged nationally, it makes me feel good about what they are doing. At the same time, I have a different vision of philosophy of the model, on which our education system is based.
I guess it is based on the belief that the Northwest Territories is a place where different cultures come together and co-exist, but where one culture does not swallow up the other. I believe that the Northwest Territories has never been, and should never become, "a melting pot."
I do not think that the ways we Dene, Inuit and Metis have lived for thousands of years, and especially, the way we have raised our children, should be considered second rate when compared to non-native education systems which white people have brought into the north.
Mr. Speaker, the two part challenge facing young people in small northern communities today is to learn how to succeed as a traditional aboriginal person, and how to succeed within the modern ways economy and environment.
Our youth are having to learn how to think and feel like grandparents did. They must also be able to think and feel like the accountant, the lawyer, the social worker, or the electrician they are going to become.
Some people have suggested that the school system is not working well enough to prepare our young people for these wage economy challenges:
1. My honourable colleagues from Keewatin Central and North Slave have questioned whether we are graduating competent students;
2. The Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions found some areas where apprenticeship training and pre-vocational requirements ought to be improved; and
3. An article I tabled yesterday written by Jim Shirley of Nunatsiaq News suggests that there is a need for better training in communication skills and commerce skills within our schools.
Those are some changes that have been suggested in the ways we prepare our young aboriginal people to "think like Canadians." What I am saying is that now is the time to examine the way we are preparing our young aboriginal people to think like Dene, or like Inuit or like Metis. We should be returning to the teaching system which has worked for our children for thousands of years.
Throughout history, it has been the responsibility of the elders, the uncles, the aunties, the community as a whole, to show our children their aboriginal ways of life.
I believe that if we plan now, we can eventually build an education system, not a school system which returns responsibility for socialization, and learning to the communities, and to those traditional ways.
Mr. Speaker, when I grew up, I grew up in a tent. I was born in a tent in the Red Knife area. We never had any doctors, and it was one of those trips where my mom and dad had to go into Fort Providence to pick up supplies, and somewhere along the way, I was born. I was the second born. My sister was first, and I was born about fifteen minutes later.