Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

[English translation not provided.]

Mr. Speaker, I was in Trout Lake before Christmas and the community leadership and members have great value for our education system and for their children. They want a real school.

Presently, classes for students from K to 10 are held in the community recreation complex in a one-room area. This area is being retrofitted and it is not the same as a stand-alone school. Also, once plans begin for a new school, I also ask that a gymnasium be considered, as Trout Lake is one of the two communities in the North that does not have a gymnasium.

Trout Lake is experiencing a homecoming of sorts. Young couples are raising and bringing their young families home with them and settling in the community. They would like a school like the one in Jean Marie River.

Learning starts in the home community and children need a safe and enjoyable place to learn. Thus I support the community in their request for a new stand-alone school in Trout Lake.