NDP Calls on Liberals to Help Kashechewan Kids by Finally Ending the Funding Gap for Indigenous Children

OTTAWA – OTTAWA – While children across the country went back to school, 400 elementary students in Kashechewan, Ontario missed their first two weeks of classes.

The First Nation of Kashechewan called a state of emergency over their portable classrooms having black mould and structurally unsound foundations, making opening doors and windows dangerously difficult.

“The kids in Kashechewan deserve to go to school, just like every other child in this country,” said Charlie Angus, NDP Critic for Indigenous Youth. “I am calling on the Liberal government to end decades of chronic underfunding for First Nations communities and close the 30% funding gap that exists between Indigenous children and other kids in Canada.”

Next week, the 400 elementary students in Kashechewan will start classes at a nearby high school, but the 12-classroom building is not properly equipped to surge from 200 to 600 students. This cannot be the permanent solution. On Monday, Angus is holding a rally at Parliament with children from Kashechewan as well as elders from both Kashechewan and Nishnawbe Aski Nation to highlight the urgent need for a new school.

“This September, the NDP will be fighting for the kids in Kashechewan to get the school they deserve,” added NDP MP Carol Hughes (Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing). “My riding hosts evacuees from Kashechewan, and I have heard countless stories about the decrepit school conditions. It’s time for these kids to get a quality education in a safe and healthy school building.”