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By Shari Narine
Sweetgrass Contributing Editor
CADOTTE LAKE
September 29, 2016.
A “silent commemoration” at Little Buffalo School will mark Orange Shirt Day as Education Minister David Eggen visits on Friday.
Orange Shirt Day honours residential school survivors and promotes ongoing reconciliation.
“It’s going to be a great day tomorrow in Little Buffalo with some celebrations from students and demonstrating what they can do for all of us,” said Northland School Division superintendent Gord Atkinson.
Eggen will be accompanied to Cadotte Lake by members of his ministry, who work with the Indigenous education division, as well as Atkinson and NSD official trustee Lois Byers.
“This meeting with the minister … is more about developing a working relationship,” said Atkinson, who was appointed superintendent of NSD in mid-August.
“It’s more his visit, so we’re facilitating what he wants to see, to meet with the kids, meet the schools and see more of Northlands,” said Byers.
But that doesn’t mean some conversation won’t centre around Eggen’s directive for the NSD corporate board to be elected when the next municipal/school board elections occur in October 2017. NSD corporate board was disbanded in 2010 by then-education minister David Hancock and an official trustee appointed.
To that end, says Byers, who took over as official trustee this summer, she is still meeting informally with local school boards and members of the NSD communities as the framework for an engagement plan is put in place. Byers says 10 engagement sessions will take place allowing all 23 communities an opportunity to address the roles, responsibilities, and makeup of the new corporate board.
“The most important (thing) I’m hearing is really clearly define the role of the corporate board and local school board committees and also in the corporate board model … looking at how do the community voices get to that table,” said Byers.
While some people are in favour of returning to the 23-member corporate board, others feel that number is unwieldly, she adds.
Engagement sessions will wrap up in early December, with a report on the recommendations on governance going to NSD and the government by the middle of January. Eggen’s will make the final decision on the governance, says Byers, and changes to the Northland School Division Act will go before the Legislature in March.
Eggen will also be meeting with Lubicon Lake Band Chief Billy Joe Laboucan and council “to discuss opportunities for improving education outcomes and enhancing opportunities for First Nation students,” according to a statement issued by the minister’s office.
Initially, Eggen was to visit St. Theresa elementary school and the junior-senior high school Mistassiniy in Wabasca-Desmarais on Thursday.
Byers says as the school division has a large student population in that area, it was thought to be a good representation of the division.
It was also to be an opportunity for Eggen to see the success St. Theresa has had with its literacy initiative and at Mistassiniy, Eggen was to talk to the students with the possibility of re-instating a province-wide student leadership council begun by a previous education minister, says Atkinson.
However, tragedy struck the community last Friday when a 44-year-old woman and a 52-year-old-man died as a result of murder-suicide. RCMP determined the woman was shot first before the man turned his weapon on himself.
Atkinson says Eggen’s visit to Wabasca-Desmarais will be rescheduled.
Students at Little Buffalo School will be hosting Education Minister David Eggen on Friday. (Photo: littlebuffaloschool.ca/about/school-news/post/science-in-action)