Harper government delaying the construction of North Spirit Lake First Nation school and others in Kenora riding
The disappointing news that the new school promised for North Spirit Lake is once again being delayed, was reported to the Chiefs of Keewaytinook Okimakanak at their board meeting earlier this week. INAC officials sent a letter to North Spirit Lake and Keewaytinook Okimakanak indicating that other funding priorities are forcing further delays in the construction of their badly needed school.
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Feds set to delay Whitedog school
By Mike Aiken - December 06, 2007
Home economics teacher Beth Zurbrigg shakes her head as she looks at the dilapidated cupboard doors in her classroom.
They’re added to a list that includes a sinking foundation, bent doorframes, bent electrical panels, a worn out furnace, a warped gym floor and a south wall that’s been slowly crumbling for more than five years.
Zurbrigg is accompanied by her principal, Alan Pogson, as they make the case for moving ahead with a new facility. Pogson, unfortunately, is the latest in a list of staff leaders. His predecessors having been stressed out by unmanageable challenges.
“It’s just frustrating the hell out of staff,” he said Wednesday afternoon, as he related his point of view.
Two months after the community got input into a detailed design work for a new building, set to begin construction in the spring, Pogson is expecting to hear Thursday’s visitor will bring bad news.
Crews were initially supposed to begin work in 2005 on the $18-million project, and students were set to come back to brand new classrooms this fall. Treasury Board president Reg Alcock promised it would be done, but he was defeated.
The lobbying began anew with the Conservative government, including a personal visit by National Chief Phil Fontaine of the Assembly of First Nations in September 2006.
By that point, band council had already received support from Treaty 3 Grand Chief Arnold Gardner and Regional Chief Angus Toulouse from the Chiefs of Ontario.
Last winter, classes were cancelled after the Christmas break, until consultants could reassure parents that the air was safe to breath. Elevated readings of mold led to alarm, since they came following the death of the school’s custodian, who passed away from meningitis.
A representative from Indian Affairs is expected to visit Thursday, with news of further delays in construction.
Unfortunately, the pressure-packed situation claimed Pogson’s predecessor, the second in as many years.
According to staff, the government representative was initially expected Wednesday, but cancelled at the last minute.
In a riding which used to belong to Indian Affairs Minister Bob Nault, is currently held by Liberal Roger Valley and is being courted by both NDP leader Jack Layton and Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- who’ve both visited the area since the last election -- the tussle over public spending takes on a whole new dimension.
The First Nation’s struggle has also brought a new ally, as the council members from the city of Kenora issued a letter to the band chief Wednesday, stating their support for the new school.
At stake for a beleaguered community is a beacon of hope for their troubled youth. With more than 200 children in care from a population of about 1,000 members, band leadership is hoping to not only replace the existing facilities, but also improve on them, as part of their long-term plan to bring their young people home.
Instead of having new kitchen stoves and cupboards, Pogson wants to see commercial kitchens with industrial equipment, so he can properly teach the Ontario curriculum. Hospitality classes in Kenora have been popular and over-subscribed for several years, as the city turns towards tourism, and businesses are clamouring for new staff.
A recent study showed more than a third of positions for youth went unfilled in Kenora, and the local chamber of commerce has lobbied for help in training First Nations students to fill vacancies. However, this won’t happen, if the new school’s built based upon the old model, Pogson argued.
Pogson went further by saying he’s trying to attract qualified staff to a high-needs environment, and yet there aren’t any new teacherages being added. In 2005, the waiting list for housing in the community had more than 300 names on it. In 2004, the principal estimated that 190 of his 350 students registered would have special needs.
Pogson’s estimate isn’t as high, he figures a typical classroom would have students that are at least two years behind the provincial average, and it would include four or five people with either attention deficit disorder or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
“I’m asking teachers to move 1,000 miles. I want to give them a place to live,” Pogson emphasized.
He’s already losing support staff, such as education assistants and teacher aids to attrition, because parts of his budget are being sucked up to pay lingering debts from previous administrations, not just at the school but for the band.
“It’s a crisis budget. It’s not like we’re getting ahead,” he stressed.
Granted, some of the budgetary problems are of the band’s own making, which is why their finances are now being handled in partnership with the federal government, but the impact on the students of the poor conditions remains.
During Fontaine’s visit last year year, he met with students in a makeshift classroom. They’d installed a blackboard in the living room of one of the teacherages, so it could be used to ease the overcrowding, while the tenant was away in the main building teaching another class.
Joe Young, from Indian Affairs in Thunder Bay, was expected to sub in for the regional director general when their delegation met with community leaders around noon Thursday.