Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We heard from some of my colleagues last week that negotiations between the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and the Hay River DEA to swap schools in Hay River have broken down. Not only has the Hay River District Education Authority withdrawn but so has the Commission scolaire francophone.
The solution proposed by the GNWT, while workable, just did not provide for a good learning environment for either Ecole Boreale or Harry Camsell School students in Hay River.
The situation in Yellowknife is no better. Negotiations are on hold while Education District No. 1 consults with their parents and other
stakeholders. There will obviously not be any resolution in Yellowknife prior to the upcoming court date, noted by the Minister last week.
It has been almost two years since the NWT Supreme Court ordered the Government of the Northwest Territories to provide the necessary expansions to both Ecole Allain St-Cyr and Ecole Boreale. Since June 2012 the commission has been unable to take any actions to upgrade or expand their two schools in Yellowknife and Hay River. The Government of the Northwest Territories continues to appeal court decisions time and time again. It’s a costly venture for both the commission and the GNWT, and it does not allow for any advancement. Who loses out? The students, Mr. Speaker.
It is time for this government to bite the bullet, to accept the decision and accommodation ordered by the court and start planning for two capital projects: expansion of Ecole Boreale and expansion of Ecole Allain St-Cyr. In the grand scheme of our budget, the $28 million cost to expand these two schools is not a lot of money. The Commission scolaire and their students and parents should not have to wait any longer. Members know how long the capital planning process takes. It has been two years already. If planning for additions to these schools starts now for the 2015-16 capital year, it will be at least another two years before the construction is complete, if at all even started.
The government has to give up on the court appeals and start to implement the court-ordered decision. All groups involved in this problem have tried to find solutions. It has been a lot of hard work on the part of many people. But the government has to realize now that their plan, the swapping of schools, is not going to come to fruition. They have to realize that they must move on to plan B or plan C before we have another two years of inaction.
I will have questions for the Minister later on. Thank you.