If there’s one lesson the provincial government needs to learn, it’s not to neglect northern Saskatchewan. This is the opinion of Athabasca NDP MLA Leroy Laliberte who recently spoke out against the government and what the NDP is calling the province’s failure to provide an emergency plan that would provide available and accessible housing for teachers working in northern schools. “The students in the north deserve the same opportunity to learn and to gain an education just like students anywhere else in the province,” Laliberte, who also serves as shadow minister for First Nations and Métis relations, told Northern Pride. “Unfortunately, supports for teachers have been taken away since this Saskatchewan Party government has been in power, and we need these teachers in order to provide quality education for our children in the north.”
Recent consultations conducted by the NDP with local school board representatives revealed recruitment is a major issue as the Northern Lights School Division (NLSD) prepares for the coming school year. With just days to go until classes resume, there are twice as many vacant teaching positions within the division as there would be in a typical year. “This is not only an issue with the Northern Lights School Division, but also other school divisions,” Laliberte continued. “There are a lot of places with many vacant positions, and it doesn’t seem as though we’ve had any support put in place by the provincial government. We need more teachers and what we’ve heard loud and clear is housing is a major barrier to recruiting them to work in the north. We are told, on several occasions, the division was successful at recruiting teachers to accept a job, only to have them change their minds when they could not find housing.”
Not only does Laliberte believe there needs to be more housing for teachers, he also feels the province needs to come up with an emergency plan to help address the situation in the interim. “We’re heading into another school year now, and we need these teachers there,” he said. “If they don’t have the housing, they’re going to go someplace else. It’s the same issue when it comes to health care. We have a lot of nurses and a lot of teachers who want to work in the north, but we don’t have the proper housing in place to be able to support them. Something needs to be done right away. This is why we’ve called on this provincial government to start focusing on the future based on the needs of the people in northern Saskatchewan. Again, we’re being neglected as we have been for the past 18 years.” Meanwhile, Matt Love, Saskatchewan NDP education shadow minister, said school boards across the province have been forced to do more with less year-after-year. He said the impact of those cuts is particularly devastating in the remote north.
“The Saskatchewan Party has had 18 years to properly support teachers and students – instead, education in our province is last in the country,” Love said. “We need to ensure housing is available and accessible for teachers wanting to head north to teach students. We need an emergency plan to address the teacher shortage and house teachers in the north. This is a real, tangible initiative the Saskatchewan Party could take to support students before classes resume.” Jordan McPhail, Cumberland NDP MLA said the lack of supports specifically provided to schools in the north reinforces ongoing feelings the Saskatchewan Party has abandoned people. “Families up here have been through so much,” he said. “The wildfire crisis that destroyed homes and businesses and forced terrifying evacuations, the skyrocketing price of food, the lack of available health care in an emergency. We need a government that’s focused on building a bright future for the north and what better place to start that work than in the schools where our children learn.”
When speaking with Northern Pride, Laliberte reiterated the need to support the school divisions on all fronts. “They know the needs of the children in the community, and we need these teachers,” he added. “I am hoping the government will start some emergency planning to see how we can accommodate these teachers who want to come up north and teach our children… Again, we’re going into the school season now, so it’s the time to do it. A lot of teachers apply for these positions, but, when they have nowhere to stay, they end up going elsewhere… This is not a new thing. Again, we’re in scramble mode waiting on the government to pick up the slack and do what is right by giving the northern residents what they need.”