Thank you, Madam Speaker. There is nothing more heartbreaking than a preventable accident in which a child is harmed or even killed. Wherever children gather, it is the responsibility of parents, teachers and government officials to keep them safe.

Students at Moose Kerr School in Aklavik are mixing with street traffic and it’s a dangerous situation. The hamlet council in Aklavik has received concerns from parents and observers who fear an accident is waiting to happen.

Over the past couple of years, clientele at the local store near the school has increased. Patrons have nowhere to park except on the street that surrounds the school. The solution is to put up a parking lot. The Aklavik Hamlet Council is rightly concerned about incurring this cost and I’m calling on the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment to see that a parking lot gets built.

In the meantime, school administrators and government officials have a clear obligation to enforce traffic safety protocols around the schoolyard. Crossing guards should be serving at the heaviest traffic areas during the busiest times of the day. Students should be regularly informed about traffic safety and advised to wear reflective gear so that they are visible to drivers.

As for the communications with drivers, there should be visible signs asking them to slow and exercise caution in the school zone. Drivers should be yielding the right-of-way of pedestrians at all the intersections, and reminded never to pass a school bus when it is stopping and the red lights are flashing, which isn’t a case there because we don’t have school buses. As well, RCMP officers should be proactive in their enforcement of traffic laws.

This dangerous situation in Aklavik raises a broader set of questions. Are we doing enough territory-wide to keep our children safe from traffic?

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted