Tłı̨chǫ Grand Chief blasts N.W.T. gov't for lack of communication after school renovation scrapped

Tłı̨chǫ Grand Chief Jackson Lafferty says he is disappointed with the lack of communication from the government of the Northwest Territories after a planned renovation of Chief Jimmy Bruneau School was dropped from the territory's recent capital budget.

"If major infrastructure is about to be removed, they should engage the organization or the region. And they didn't do that," Lafferty said.

The renovation at the school in Edzo, N.W.T. had been listed in the budget for years. The initial scope of the work included updates to classrooms and upgrades to mechanical and electrical systems, according to an email from Department of Education, Culture and Employment spokesperson Briony Grabke. 

A condemned residence wing and a four-bay bus garage were also slated to be demolished, with the garage set to be replaced.

But that work was moved back to the planning phase in the 2023-24 capital budget that passed earlier this month.

'Unacceptable and disrespectful'

The Tłı̨chǫ government has been asking for a new school for years. The move sets the stage for that, but Lafferty says he was "very surprised and caught off guard" the renovations were taken out.

"There was no word, no discussion, no indication that it was going to be removed," Lafferty said.

"To me, it is unacceptable and disrespectful as part of being in partnership with them." 

During a media briefing in October before the proposed budget was tabled, the territory's Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek said the renovation had been on the books since she was elected.

"That project sat there even though everyone sort of acknowledged that we agreed that something different needs to happen," Wawzonek said at the time.

"Then let's not leave this thing on the books that is suggestive of something that we now all realize is not what the community actually wants, what the local government actually wants." 

The move was part of a larger review of every government department to present a more "realistic" capital budget.

"At that time, it was noted that [Chief Jimmy Bruneau School] was not ready to advance to construction, and the project, as previously approved, did not reflect the Tłı̨chǫ Government's preferred option," read an emailed statement to CBC News by the territory's Education Minister R.J. Simpson.

"As a result, the budget for renovations of the existing [Chief Jimmy Bruneau School] have been replaced by a budget to complete the planning work necessitated by this new approach."

He said the territorial government agreed to work with the Tłı̨chǫ Government toward its goal of building a new school.

A technical working group for a new school has been formed and met as recently as Oct. 19. The group consists of the Tłı̨chǫ Government, the Tłı̨chǫ Community Services Agency, and the departments of Infrastructure and Education, Culture and Employment. 

The scope of the project has yet to be determined, including where a new school might be built. The Tłı̨chǫ government recently carried out a survey asking for local input.

Lafferty said in the past, there were talks of turning parts of the building into a trade school or using it as an addictions treatment centre.

Chief Jimmy Bruneau School was opened in 1971 in Edzo, a neighboring community of Behchokǫ̀ and is considered one of the first Indigenous-run schools in Canada.

Inside the hallways on Friday afternoon, students drum while others play hand games. Around 440 students attend. Lafferty himself went to the school years ago and has seen many of the changes the building has gone through over the decades. He said there have been real challenges with its infrastructure. Just this month, the kitchen flooded. 

Lafferty said the last major retrofit at the school was in 1995 and another should have been done 20 years later, according to the territory's own policies.

The territory's Schools Capital Standards and Criteria states a renovation would "generally be planned" if the condition of a building "is unsafe but a technical assessment demonstrates that renovations completed in the next five years could extend the life of the building another 20 years for less than the cost to replace the building."

Grabke wrote the territory "continues to monitor and address any operational issues with the existing infrastructure as part of regular maintenance or through Deferred Maintenance and Capital Asset Retrofit Fund programs."

There is no timeline for when a new school might be built. Lafferty said he is hoping to see it done "before my time is up." 

"Are we going to waste another 20 years? Is that the plan? This really concerns me," he said.

Grabke said "the scope of the project needs to be determined before the project is initiated."

"The [government of the Northwest Territories] is committed to working collaboratively with the working group to advance the Chief Jimmy Bruneau School to meet the needs of the community."