Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, I had the opportunity to visit Fort Simpson on the request of their district education authority. Obviously, this is somewhat expectational but nonetheless, when Northerners anywhere need this Assembly's help, I'm happy to play my part, and I know you would do the same for my Range Lake constituents.

Mr. Speaker, it became clear to me from these discussions that a common theme was emerging: the lack of support from the education system. It is heartbreaking to see duly elected community representatives and hard-working parents not getting the help they deserve to address very serious concerns that include:

• Mishandling of a critical incident;
• Leadership failures and inaction;
• Misinformation and inconsistent communication;
• Alleged retaliation and abuse of authority;
• Lack of transparent communication with staff and families;
• Failure to facilitate restorative practices or community healing; and,
• Blocking student participation in school activities due to interpersonal conflicts.

The effects of these actions have reportedly led to high staff turnover and multiple stress leaves, a loss of trust among educators, families, and the broader community, and a sense of unsafety within the school environment. The broad administrative response has been brought into question as well. When the DEA tried to fix these problems that they were elected to fix, they were met with perceived favouritism and a lack of fairness from supervisory officials and inadequate responses to serious complaints and no real community engagement.

Mr. Speaker, some of these issues have already been reported in the media, and I suspect more will follow. I should stress that the concerns raised here are alleged and not proven, but the voices of the community are loud and united in purpose to solve a problem that has slowly grown worse over time. Now the Minister has a choice: Listen to the voices of the small communities or continue to support a colonial system that is failing to protect students, staff, and families. I hope she will make the right choice. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.