Hay River (Jan 24/05) - The leader of an NWT French cultural organization wants the government to intervene after a decision was made to ban students of Hay River's French school from participating in a public school science fair.

Fernand Denault, president of the NWT French community's La Federation Franco-TeNOise, said the decision by the Hay River District Education Authority (DEA) this month to exclude students from Ecole Boreale in Princess Alexandra school's February science fair is just plain wrong.

"The tradition of win-win good relations between the schools is being submitted to sabotage through intolerance, nonco-operation and exclusion," he said in a scathing news release last week.

Denault blasted the DEA's position as being destructive, encouraging wider-scale segregation, and over the longer term, creating social barriers in Hay River.

The DEA argues its schools and Ecole Boreale are in a competition for students and the science fair is one way of attracting students.

Denault said the DEA has full authority to adopt school policies, but does not have the right to "sow seeds of division" between families and parents in Hay River by using children as pawns.

Education Minister Charles Dent said he had not received any request for intervention from Denault as of Thursday.

Nonetheless, Dent said he was very disappointed by the DEA's actions.

"Anytime kids are used as pawns in a disagreement, I find it quite troubling," he said. The minister noted the science fair is voluntary and not part of Princess Alexandra school's regular programming.

"I'm not sure there is anything I could do to require a change," said Dent.

The science fair issue was not discussed at the DEA's last regular meeting on Jan. 19.

DEA chair David MacDonald declined to comment on the issue following the meeting and could not be reached later in the week.