Yellowknife (Mar 24/06) - Hoping to secure a place in the proposed K-12 school planned for Inuvik, the Children First Society is asking the Inuvik Capacity Building Fund Committee for $1.3 million.

Tanya Elias, chair of the Inuvik Pre-School Society and member of the Children First Society, holds a petition asking the town, the Inuvik Community Corp., the Nihtat Gwich'in Council and Inuvik Metis Council to turn over $1.3 million of $1.8 million in community capacity building dollars. - Jason Unrau/NNSL photo

A total of $1.8 million worth of Northern Strategy dollars is earmarked for Inuvik.

"For once, let this be a time when early childhood development stands at the top of the list of priorities," said Tanya Elias, chair of the Inuvik Pre-School and member of the Children First Society - an umbrella group representing the Inuvik Daycare, Aboriginal Headstart and the Inuvik Pre-school.

According to Elias, the $1.3 million will be put towards the estimated $2.25 million that Public Works and Services (PWS) says would be required to add early childhood development space to the proposed K-12 school.

Made up of representatives from the Town of Inuvik, the Inuvik Community Corp., the Nihtat Gwich'in Council and Inuvik Metis Council, the Community Capacity Building Fund Committee has been soliciting proposals from all groups and organizations in town and will make the final decision on which projects will receive funding.

When the Drum contacted PWS in Yellowknife to confirm this figure, an official would only comment that "the details were still being negotiated and they were trying to keep the possibility open."

Even if the Children First Society were to get $1.3 million from the capacity building fund - which according to one member of Inuvik's capacity building fund committee said, on the condition of anonymity - it "seems very unlikely" that the society would still be a million short.

"The pre-school has a $50,000 building fund and (Aboriginal) Headstart would sell its building and the equity would go towards this project," Elias said. "But we need a significant chunk (of money) by June 2006 or Public Works will cut us out of the plan."

As the proposed K-12 school is at least five years away from being completed, the society cannot depend on equity from the sale of the Aboriginal Headstart building, bringing things back to Elias' petition. By Monday afternoon, she had 250 signatures of support.

As the territorial department of Education, Culture and Employment's mandate does not include the provision of early childhood development infrastructure, Twin Lakes MLA Robert McLeod says the ministry should revisit its policy.

"I want to see government make early childhood development part of all new schools," he said, adding further to his members' statement in the legislative assembly on Feb. 14.

"The Children First Society is a non-profit group that was formed with the hope of having their needs incorporated in the new school being built in Inuvik.

"We spend millions of dollars on jails, courthouses and subsidies. Let's now make an investment in the resource that will bring a good retu