Mah-Sos situation ‘a disgrace'
Published Friday November 21st, 2008
National Chief Phil Fontaine toured mouldy Tobique schools on Monday
The students of Mah-Sos School at Tobique First Nation left their mould-infested building in April to attend school in what they and their teachers and parents hoped was a temporary move. But so far nothing has been done to repair the building's many problems and the Department of Indian Affairs has not yet decided to build a new school.
The students have been attending school in the Adult Training Centre, but in the lower floor of that building there is also a strong smell of mould, just as there was in the school they vacated in April.
On Monday, Nov. 16, Phil Fontaine, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, arrived at Tobique First Nation to see the situation for himself and was upset that the situation was not only endangering the children's education but was also endangering their health. In the temporary school, the Grade 5 students' classroom is in the mouldy smelling downstairs level, as is the school's office and other rooms used by cleaning staff.
Fontaine arrived at the temporary school accompanied by Tobique Chief Gerald Bear, parents, band councillors and others supporting the idea of a new school.
Lori Paul and Shannon Perley of Friends of Mah-Sos, a parent group that strongly supports new construction, were there as well. Lori Paul pointed out a recent newspaper story that said renovations were going on at Mah-Sos School was wrong.
"There is absolutely no work going on there, they don't plan any as far as we know, and nobody (at the Department of Indian Affairs) will say when they will decide whether to build a new school," she said.
After touring the present school and listening to some singing by Grade 2 students, Chief Fontaine and the large entourage moved on to the now empty Mah-Sos School where everyone was issued with a cloth mask to protect their breathing from the prevalent odor of mould.
"Is this the worst part of the building?" he asked education director Warren Tremblay as they were looking around a large classroom, which recently had its windows vandalized.
Tremblay said other parts, including one classroom that had been closed for well over a year, were much worse.
There was no sign of any recent work being done in the building, only books and equipment sitting on desks and in shelves. In the resource centre, or library, were hundreds of children's books headed for an incinerator because the mould spores cling to the pages. Much of the other items in the school will meet the same fate.
"It's a terrible situation," said Chief Fontaine. "Education is a very important issue for this community, for all our communities. If kids are being schooled in situations such as we've seen here today, they're under a terrible disadvantage. Kids deserve better. These kids are our future, not just the future of the First Nations community, but Canada's future. No one deserves to be treated the way these kids are being treated.
"It was important that I see it for myself," he continued, and went on to say that efforts by the Assembly of First Nations to press the federal government about educational matters hadn't been successful so far.
Asked what options were available, Chief Fontaine said that probably the best one is to file a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
"I also believe that this community and other First Nations communities are going to have to think very, very seriously about launching a class action lawsuit against what are obviously discriminatory actions against our people."
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