SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Teaching all Canadian students about the residential school system is important, according to one city educator.

Education Minister Jackson Lafferty listens to a question from the media at a news conference at the legislative assembly Thursday. Lafferty announced the first-ever aboriginal educator's symposium will be held in Yellowknife next week when education ministers from across the city will converge on the city. - John McFadden/NNSL photo

Paul Bennett - who recently left his job as the principal at J.H. Sissons to take over as vice-principal at Sir John Franklin High School - said the territory's education minister is onto something in urging the other provinces to include teaching about the system that lasted more than 150 years, but isn't mandatory course material in the rest of Canada.

"It is really important," said Bennett. "It's one of those things that you don't want to forget that we've done."

Yellowknife hosted the first-ever Council of Minister of Education, Canada (CMEC) aboriginal educators symposium Monday and Tuesday. In announcing the symposium last Friday at a press conference, Education Minister Lafferty said the two main goals of the symposium are to attract and retain teachers in the NWT and to see that residential schools curriculum is taught to students across Canada. Lafferty cited a recommendation from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

"Recommendation number 63 calls on CMEC to maintain an annual commitment to aboriginal education issues including the evolution of residential schools curriculum and sharing best practices on teaching students about residential schools and aboriginal history," he said. "The important thing is that we accept our responsibility to do our part, to right the wrongs that so many aboriginal people have experienced. We cannot change the past but we can work on building a better future for all Canadians."

Bennett said students in the territory get an introduction to the topic in Grade 4.

"But it's more covered later on in Northern Studies 10," he said. "There's a lot of deep scars where we want our children to be a little more mature in understanding. What we need to do is educate our children about why do we have multicultural day? Why do we value other cultures? I think that's the approach we take with our younger ones."

Bennett said students need to know their history in order to avoid making old mistakes.

"It's one of those things in Canadian history which we don't want to forget," he said. "A lot of it has just been buried. It's about being respectful . it's nice to say we are respectful but we have evidence that we haven't been. I think they're learning more about inter-nation relationships, understanding that we are more of a nation-to-nation treaty. There are things there to respect and understand."

About 75 delegates are expected in Yellowknife for the symposium. Lafferty said it is costing about $200,000 to host the event, with funding split between the territorial and federal governments.

- with files from John McFadden

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