Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Education will undertake minor renovations in the summer of 2006 to the Mangilaluk School in Tuktoyaktuk. Although this is welcome news to the Tuktoyaktuk District Education Authority and the people of Tuk, these renovations will in no way address the community's desire to separate the kindergarten to Grade 8 students from the senior students in grades 9 to 12.
Mr. Speaker, I was fortunate enough to attend Samuel Hearne Secondary School in Inuvik and, as such, did not interact with students in kindergarten to Grade 7. By this separation, I believe that the younger students were not exposed to unsuitable activities or influences.
Mr. Speaker, the parents of Mangilaluk School have raised this concern on many occasions. I have raised this issue in this Assembly on several occasions, also.
The answers I have gotten to date have centred on the fact that Mangilaluk School is nowhere near capacity, so there is no way a new high school can be constructed.
Mr. Speaker, I see that a recent court case in Yellowknife has clearly defined the rights of French students to a certain amount of space. As I understand it, Mr. Speaker, their rights under the Charter to an equal education were violated because their school did not have their own gymnasium or science labs, and the government will now be paying for renovations to the school.
This is fine, Mr. Speaker, but this makes me believe that aboriginal students are not being afforded the same opportunities as French language students. We do have a science lab for high school students in Tuk, so to speak. However, nobody seems too concerned about this at the Department of Education. I have to ask, is it fair?
Maybe, Mr. Speaker, we should sue the government. It seems to be the only way to get them to pay attention to the educational needs of the students of Tuktoyaktuk. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause