Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in regard to a grave concern from the residents of Tsiigehtchic. It is in regard to the shortage of teachers in that community. Two weeks ago the principal, Don Rishea, was medevaced out of Tsiigehtchic along with his wife to Yellowknife. Mr. Speaker, since then there has been a shortage of teachers in Tsiigehtchic for the last two weeks and I have received calls from parents of Tsiigehtchic concerned that their children will not be able to conclude the school year because of the shortage of teachers in that community. Mr. Speaker, at the present time the children are not attending school because Tsiigehtchic only has one teacher. Alisha Mortenson is a young lady just out of university and is presently taking care of the children from kindergarten to grade 10. She is presently overworked and she is also trying to play the role of the principal. Mr. Speaker, I do not think it is fair to Ms. Mortenson to do this.
I feel, Mr. Speaker, with the shortage of teachers and also the shortage of staff we find ourselves with in the Beaufort Delta region, that there has to be some effort made to deal with this as an emergency. I strongly feel that we have to make all efforts to assist the community of Tsiigehtchic by bringing in teachers to offset the workload for Ms. Mortenson. Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister of Education questions on this matter in regard to what does the government do in cases such as this, which as far as I can see is an emergency crisis in a small community, and also for the children of Tsiigehtchic to ensure they are able to conclude their school year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.