Latest news with #Dehcho
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Education bodies in Dehcho welcome investigations launched by N.W.T. gov't
The organizations in the Dehcho at the centre of multiple investigations launched by the N.W.T. education minister say they welcome the scrutiny. The investigations, announced a week ago, are into both the Dehcho Divisional Education Council and all District Education Authorities (DEAs) in the region. They're wide-ranging, from finances to human resources to personnel matters and governance. According to a June 20 news release from the government, one investigation into finances appears to have already started, while another — which is an independent review looking at governance — begins in July and is expected to wrap up at the end of August and include findings and next steps. Minister Caitlin Cleveland declined an interview request after announcing the investigations last week. Derek Squirrel, vice-chair of the DEA in Fort Simpson, says he is glad the government is looking into issues parents are facing. "I think it's a long time coming for this," Squirrel said. "Once we met with the minister and she mentioned that she was going to do an investigation, we made a recommendation that is that it needs to happen sooner than later, because time is already ticking." Squirrel says he isn't concerned that the Fort Simpson DEA is being investigated. "There wouldn't be anything to find," he said, adding the DEA follows the Education Act and its policies. "All the decisions that we make at a board level are not taken lightly... we welcome the investigation, we think that this is needed, we wish it came sooner." CBC News contacted Donna Miller Fry, the superintendent of the Dehcho Divisional Education Council (DDEC), about the investigations into the school board and DEAs. Miller Fry responded in an email that she also welcomes the education department's investigation and that her organization will do whatever they can to support that work. The board's "priority is children and young people, and ensuring they are learning and thriving in our schools," she wrote. "That happens best when the system of governance is also thriving and working as it should." The announcement of the investigations came weeks after parents in Fort Simpson, N.W.T., met with Cleveland to bring forward issues they had with the local elementary school principal. In the meeting, Fort Simpson DEA members also outlined how their concerns had been raised with Miller Fry, and alleged that she hadn't dealt with them. Miller Fry has told CBC News that she couldn't speak about that principal due to confidentiality. The education department has not tied the investigations to any conflict or concerns about the principal. Rather, the news release last week refers to "serious concerns from parents, educators, community members, and education partners in the Dehcho." The DDEC is headquartered in Fort Simpson and is guided by trustees from that community as well as from Kakisa, Jean Marie River, Sambaa K'e, Fort Liard, Nahanni Butte, Wrigley and Fort Providence.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Parents call on N.W.T. education minister to remove Fort Simpson elementary school principal
Parents in Fort Simpson, N.W.T., are calling on the territorial government to permanently remove the principal of the local elementary school. The parents, some of whom are elected members of the community's District Education Authority (DEA), met with the N.W.T. education minister earlier this month to list their concerns with Łı̨́ı̨́dĺ̨ı̨́ı̨́ Kų́ę́ Elementary School principal Benjamin Adams. The concerns include a lack of communication, unreliability and an unhealthy school environment that they allege is failing their children. Adams declined an interview request due to "internal processes and confidentiality." On Wednesday, the day after the request, Adams sent an email to school staff informing them he would be on leave for the remainder of the year. Dehcho Divisional Education Council (DDEC) superintendent Donna Miller Fry wrote in an email to CBC News on June 19 that Adams is still the principal of the school, but there is an acting principal while he is away. Parents who spoke with CBC said the Fort Simpson DEA met with Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland on June 6 to discuss the issues, which is when they called for Adams' removal. Parents spoke with CBC in the days leading up to Friday's announcement from the government of sweeping investigations into the DDEC's and Dehcho DEAs' governance, finances and human resource issues. Shawna McLeod, a Fort Simpson parent and DEA member, delivered a speech to Cleveland and provided a written statement that detailed various incidents involving several parents and students. The letter says Adams' behaviour reveals "a disturbing pattern of neglect, exclusion, dishonesty and emotional harm." One example includes a neurodiverse child whose mother felt they weren't properly supported. There were also concerns about how a teacher was treating the child. The letter says Adams didn't properly address the concerns with the teacher. A former staff member and parent was also quoted in the letter as saying the education system in Fort Simpson is "crumbling." That person described a toxic work environment, with a lack of support for students and inconsistent leadership. McLeod said she decided to pull her daughter from the school and is not the only one to do so. McLeod and another parent who spoke to CBC said they think Adams has retaliated against children whose parents have spoken out about his shortcomings, by not allowing them to attend extracurricular activities. Adams' bio on the education council's website, which was removed June 18, said he is from Newfoundland and spent time working in that province, as well as in Nunavut and Manitoba. It said he worked as the Fort Simpson high school principal before moving over to the elementary school. He was listed as the elementary school principal on the school's website sometime in 2022. CBC News obtained a copy of the letter presented to the minister and reached out to McLeod to independently confirm that she had written it. CBC also reached out to some of the parents named in the letter. One parent, Mary Masuzumi, said Adams called her to the school last year after her son, who is non-verbal, demonstrated with his hands that he was hit by someone. Masuzumi said Adams told her a teacher had backhanded her son to the floor. Later, she said, he denied ever making that statement. Rylan Hardisty-Gillis and Jerri Brenton said they have a daughter who attended the school. They ended up homeschooling her due to issues with a teacher, but registered her in a couple classes. They said they were told by Adams that their daughter could still use the school facilities and receive support from the school, which is also required under territorial legislation. But over the course of the year, their daughter wasn't allowed to participate in multiple school events and extracurricular activities. The parents said when they asked Adams about why she couldn't participate, he said he didn't know anything about the rules around homeschooled students using school facilities. Another parent, Brendan Whelly, said he was emailing Adams to ask about the plan to get a permanent teacher for the school's kindergarten class. He said getting a response from Adams about the vacant position sometimes took weeks. Whelly said Adams suddenly ended their communications, writing that he sensed "a level of hostility, threat and aggression." CBC News reviewed the email thread in question and it did not appear to include any threats or aggression. CBC emailed Adams about each individual concern raised by the parents; he did not provide a response by deadline. The Dehcho Divisional Education Council superintendent, Donna Miller Fry, told CBC in an email that she couldn't speak due to privacy concerns and confidentiality regulations. CBC News was unable to reach the DDEC's trustees for comment. CBC reached out to Cleveland earlier in the week for an interview about the situation. Sameeksha Dandriyal, a spokesperson for Cleveland, responded by email that the minister "is aware of the concerns raised and, as with all concerns expressed by residents, takes them seriously." "The minister has been engaging with partners in the education system in the Dehcho region to listen and better understand the situation," Dandriyal wrote. Late Friday afternoon, Cleveland issued a media statement announcing a series of investigations into the DDEC and the Dehcho region's DEAs. An independent investigator will review those education bodies; the government has launched a financial review of them; and the Finance department will do a human resources investigation. In that statement, Cleveland referred to a range of concerns from community members about the situation. "I understand many residents want to see action, and I share that sense of urgency," Cleveland wrote. "I also recognize that for some families—particularly Indigenous families still living with the intergenerational impacts of residential schools— these situations can be especially difficult. That's why this work must be carried out with care, fairness, and respect." In Adams' email to staff on June 17, he wrote there would be an acting principal in his place. In a Facebook post to parents, he wrote he would be "working from afar and periodically at the school."
CBC
12-05-2025
- Climate
- CBC
'Normal' fire activity for now, says N.W.T. Fire, but danger could ramp up in July
Social Sharing The Northwest Territories could see a lot of fire activity later this summer. On Monday afternoon, N.W.T. Fire briefed reporters on the forecast for the coming fire season. Richard Olsen, the manager of fire operations for the territorial government, said fire behaviour modelling from Natural Resources Canada shows "normal" fire activity is anticipated in the territory until the end of June — but things could ramp up after that. "As we do get into July and August, we are expected to see potentially an above-average type of conditions," he told reporters. In some parts of the territory, modelling shows fire risk could be "well above average," he added. Drought conditions continue Olsen said when you look at the relative moisture of soil here, a large part of the N.W.T. is still experiencing "severe drought" compared to the rest of Canada. Going into last winter, the Dehcho region, the regions south and west of Great Slave Lake, and the southern Sahtu were all experiencing drought, and there wasn't enough precipitation this winter to change that. "In large portions of the N.W.T., we are starting to get into normal or slightly below normal snowfalls," he said. "But generally nothing that's seen as a significant dump of snow that really looked to make a large change and impact on the forest floor … in terms of how deep and severe some of these fires might burn." Because of this, Olsen said, they are anticipating that they are starting the fire season with drought conditions around Great Slave Lake, the Dehcho and the southern Sahtu region. Olsen said the territory is also expected to see above-average temperatures this summer in June, July and August — another factor that would support fire growth. N.W.T. Fire preparing for fires Olsen said despite the tough fire conditions, he is feeling good about the upcoming fire season. Olsen said the territory has brought on additional helicopters and tankers to fight fires this year, thanks to funding from the federal government. They are currently planning to have 34 fire crews in total this summer, all with either four or five people. He said all but a couple of those crews have finished their training, and tankers and helicopters will start to join the firefighting teams gradually throughout the month. Olsen said N.W.T. Fire has begun implementing recommendations that came out of the review of the 2023 fire season and after-action reviews looking at specific fires, especially around communication and co-ordination with communities. He said crews in the Dehcho and South Slave are fully operational, and N.W.T. Fire is flying over overwintering fires to identify and action hotspots.
CBC
07-05-2025
- Climate
- CBC
No active wildfires yet, but fire danger rising in southern N.W.T.
The risk of wildfires around Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte is expected to be high in the next couple days, the N.W.T. government said Wednesday. In its first fire update of the season, N.W.T. Fire said no active wildfires are burning in the territory yet. However, it expects most of the South Slave and Dehcho regions to reach moderate fire danger soon. "In all areas in the south of the territory, we expect some periods of high winds — which can be problematic even at low or moderate levels of fire danger," it stated. "That means for the south of the territory, conditions are here to support new starts and fast growth." It also said that this time of year it's generally person-caused fires that cause the "biggest issues," and suggested people avoid having fires if the danger in their area is high or extreme.
CBC
25-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Negotiators want next N.W.T. MP to advance land claims
Social Sharing Dehcho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian says the N.W.T.'s future MP will need to "roll up their sleeves" with federal negotiators to bring unresolved land claims over the finish line. Their biggest challenge? Sparse and "slow" negotiations where time is spent reviewing minutes instead of advancing issues needing "immediate attention" like governance and resources, said Norwegian. Dehcho's claim process has been ongoing for over 20 years and he says in one year they only negotiated for just 21 days. "We're just being dragged down the damn road," he said, describing prolonged negotiations as an "ongoing trauma." "After all, it's our land," he said. The N.W.T. has three unresolved land claims affecting the Dehcho First Nations, Akaitcho Dene and the North Slave Métis. Akaitcho Dene First Nations includes Yellowknives Dene, Łutsel K'e Dene and Deninu Kųę́ First Nations, who reached a draft agreement in 2023. Abiding by UNDRIP Twenty-two years into negotiations, Yellowknives Dene Ndilǫ Chief Fred Sangris said Akaitcho communities are "wordsmithing" with Ottawa lawyers under the Liberal government to clarify their rights. "Under [UNDRIP] there is no need for any Indigenous group in the world to extinguish all their rights," he said. "We don't want to have an agreement like other First Nations across Northwest Territories that have extinguished. Once you extinguish, you can't go back to the table and ask for anything else." Federally, the Liberal, Green Party, and the New Democratic Party platforms support implementing UNDRIP. On Tuesday Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre sidestepped questions on whether they would fully implement the law but the party's platform is to "get projects built again by repealing the Liberal anti-development laws." Clarifying power of claims Projects like the Mackenzie Valley Highway, which would pass through Dehcho communities, could change the face of the region and increase access to their lands. Liberal Candidate Rebecca Alty said that she would support bringing in technical experts to advance efforts to establish the Mackenzie Valley Highway, Slave Geological all-season road to the Nunavut border, and the Gray's Bay port and road project. She said she would push for more days spent negotiating, and allocate more staff to negotiating settlement and build capacity to devolve responsibilities under Indigenous self-government, as with the Inuvialuit on child and family services. The Liberal government was working on passing legislation to use a commissioner of modern treaty implementation to interpret agreements through the commission rather than going to court. The NDP's Kelvin Kotchilea said unsettled claims mean First Nations lack "meaningful" equity shares in major diamond, mineral and oil and gas development and that Indigenous governments told him the next MP should be a "partner in lobbying" to advance claims. Unresolved claims in the Dehcho and Akaitcho regions and the North Slave Metis Alliance, pose a "big question mark" over resource exploration, land protection, resource royalties, cultural activities and , said Kotchilea. He called some Impact Benefit Agreements a "joke" because millions of dollars could have "fixed the housing shortage in [the Tlicho] region if these mines were serious about partnership rather than tokenism and taking advantage of us." Kotchilea said the NDP will advance the Mackenzie Valley Highway by meeting with impacted communities Wrigley, Tulita, Deline, Fort Good Hope and Norman Wells. Green Party Candidate Rainbow Eyes said "Canada has a history of going about it in a colonial way, not getting the perspectives and views of the people" and that "open dialogue will move claims ahead." The Green Party supports Indigenous title affirmation according to the Supreme Court ruling with Tsilhqot'in Nation, and the Haida Title agreement. It promises land restitution and identifying federal and Crown lands suitable for transfer to Indigenous ownership. The Greens would replace First Ministers' meeting with Indigenous, federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments forming a Council of Canadian Governments. Conservative Candidate Kimberly Fairman said her party will focus on "shovel ready" projects in the territory and pursue the Gray's Bay Port and road project. In CBC's election forum with the N.W.T.'s four candidates, Fairman said settling claims would give certainty on development and that the resource sector is one of the "key supportive sectors for our whole economy." Fairman said the North is "10 years behind" on exploration, which she says has been "very slow or stagnant" because companies are reluctant to invest if they do not expect financial returns. The party's platform does not mention land claims or negotiations but says it would establish a nation-to-nation consultation process for legislation and projects affecting First Nations. Fairman proposed a First Nations resource charge policy to access money directly from private companies rather than seek funds from territorial and federal governments. Benefiting from development Norwegian expects a "big push to get lands and resources back on the table" in upcoming negotiations. Land claim resolution goes hand-in-hand with self-governance, and would enable Akaitcho communities to advance on issues like housing and economic development, said Sangris. Sangris said housing and homelessness continue to affect communities and most land claims do not have housing under their agreements. "If you don't have a home, you can't get a job, because you don't have an address and that's a problem." Sangris said N.W.T. residents need a leader who can address both U.S. attacks on Canada's economy and "outstanding grievances on the land claim process." Unresolved claims North Slave Métis Alliance (NSMA) President Marc Whitford said they sent the federal government a revised asserted claim last summer and are still waiting to initiate a process, he said. "We have trouble with some of the economic initiatives that we're working on, because we're viewed differently than the [First Nations] that actually do have a claim." In the Dehcho, Norwegian said negotiators are working on issues of governance and residency requirements — they sought 10 year residency for electoral participation rather than the federal government's suggested two. This is to protect against "transient governments" in the event of large resource development projects, he said.
