Okay. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this time, I would like to speak on a matter which has been, and continues to be, of grave concern to the people of Baker Lake.
The Members will recall the issue of the student transportation which I have spoken of a number of times. As a matter of fact, I brought into this house another petition requesting students' transportation about a year ago.
Mr. Speaker, I was in Baker Lake when the community education council had arranged for a walk from the far east end of the community to the school. The walk started at 1:00 pm on Monday, November 8, 1993. The temperature on that day was a seasonal norm at minus 28.7 degrees celsius and the wind at 15 nautical miles from the northwest, which works out to a wind chill factor of 2172. This, Mr. Speaker, is just the beginning of the winter and already the temperature was that cold. According to Environment Canada, at a wind chill factor of 2000, unprotected skin freezes in one to three minutes. Face protection is recommended.
At the same time in Yellowknife, the temperature was 9.5 degrees celsius, with a wind speed of 7 kilometres per hour. Mr. Speaker, this is a difference of close to 20 degrees celsius and when the wind speed is taken into consideration, the difference is even greater. In fact, the wind chill factor for Yellowknife on that day does not even show on the wind chill factor chart.
I use Yellowknife as an example as this is where all decisions are made and the decision makers do not really realize the implications of the cold in the east.
Getting back to the demonstration, Mr. Speaker. There were 398 people counted. The walk took 25 minutes in total from the east end of the community to the steps of the school. I counted the number of steps that I took and counted a total of 3000 steps. It took me 3000 steps and 25 minutes to walk. Mr. Speaker, it would take students in the primary end even longer. The students are dismissed from class at 11:45 for lunch. A child who might walk as fast as I did that day would be at home at 12:10 and have a 20 minute lunch and then have to head out again to walk back for another 25 minutes.
There's also an area in Baker Lake in which these students would have to walk which I counted out to be 1000 steps; with no buildings, no trees or no obstructions to take cover from the cold and wind.
I should also make note that I walked with my youngest sister, who is now 11 years old. She had frozen cheeks by the time we reached the school. The people gathered in the gymnasium and had hot chocolate and made some statements of their concerns. One parent stated that once it is really cold, the parent will not be sending their children to school. Another parent, one who is an elderly widow, said that she walks her child to and from school every day. Another young parent who spoke said that he now sends his children to school by taxi every day. This was after having been lost with his brother on their way to school when they were of school age.
Mr. Speaker, there are some children who are losing some valuable time from school because it is too cold and too far to walk. At the same time, there are also some very dedicated parents who see education as a very valuable asset. When one adds the time it takes students and parents to walk in the morning, lunch and after school, it adds up to an hour and 40 minutes of your day taken up on walking.
I have one more point that I would like to make, Mr. Speaker. This year, close to the community of Baker Lake, there are hundreds of caribou. When you arrive in Baker Lake you will see caribou from the terminal. At times they have to chase them away from the landing strip. This is wonderful and is a benefit of living in Baker Lake. However, with the caribou come many wolves and scavengers such as foxes. Wolves, as Members know, usually come in packs and foxes are known for their tendency to have rabies. This makes it even more worrisome for parents to send their children to school.
I strongly urge the government and this Legislative Assembly to accept the work that the Honourable Richard Nerysoo has been doing to create a policy on student transportation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.