**ONTARIO NDP CAUCUS OPEN LETTER**

Dear Ministers of Indigenous Affairs and Education,
 
The children of Kashechewan have been left without a school.
 
Until this past September, they had been learning in what were meant to be temporary portables that were set up 10 years ago. Now, even those temporary classrooms were shut down.
 
The portables had been falling apart, and this year they reached the point of being dangerous to the health of the students, with hazardous conditions that included mold and structural deterioration.

The former president of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, Allan Teramura, went to Kashechewan to visit the elementary school in September to see for himself. In a letter to the federal government he describes what he found as “unnerving.” He recounts his visit in a letter that says:

“A near-windowless compound of identical sheds surrounded by a chain-link fence, it could easily be mistaken for a miniature correctional facility. Worse, these sheds are built without proper foundations, with wood framing that appears to bear directly on the ground in a shallow excavation…

“Whatever measures taken, if any, to protect the wood foundation from frost – a fundamental building code requirement of any building in Canada – were not sufficient. That the exit doors sometimes stick shut even while the building is occupied is also an egregiously obvious fire code violation.

“As an architect I am familiar with the norms, standards, codes, and expectations that apply to buildings in Canada. This school would not be acceptable anywhere, even as a temporary solution, except, apparently, on reserves. No school board would propose it, no parents would tolerate it, and no building official would approve it. And yet, it remains, many years after it was supposed to be replaced with a real building.”

Ministers, the children of Kashechewan need a permanent school open in their community this year. One where children won’t get sick. The situation is critical, and you must act now.

Deputy Grand Chief of the NAN, Derek Fox, released a statement by the NAN on Sept 17th. “The youth of Kashechewan deserve a quality education and we will do everything we can to make sure that they attend classes in a safe and healthy environment.”

Please let the community of Kashechewan know the specific steps you will take to ensure that these children will have a safe, usable school so they can begin their school year as every other child in Ontario has done.

Sincerely,

Guy Bourgouin, NDP MPP, Mushkegowuk-James Bay
Sol Mamakwa, NDP Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation critic
Marit Stiles, NDP Education critic