DFC students attend anti-Bill 191 rally in Toronto

Four students from Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School were selected to attend the anti-Bill 191 rally at Queen’s Park in Toronto Sept. 15-16.
Along with teacher Kevin Kakegamic, students Megan Kakepetum from Keewaywin, Clayton Hudson from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, Storm Keewasin from Wunnumin Lake, and Claudia Linklater from Sandy Lake, made the more than 20-hour bus trip with Nishnawbe Aski Nation staff.
“It was great to be a part of the rally,” Kakepetum said, adding setting up the road block behind Queen’s Park was the highlight of the trip.
Led by Timmins-James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson, the students were also part of the 100-member strong group who walked out of the Sept. 15 committee meeting on Bill 191 after the Liberals refused to adopt Bisson’s amendment proposal to delay passage of the bill.
It was later passed (see related story on page 1).
Kakegamic said it was a privilege to stand shoulder to shoulder with NAN leaders and his students to fight for change.
The DFC students have been following the Bill 191 issue since they returned to school.
The bill, also referred to as the Far North Act, was introduced in June 2009 to permanently protect at least half of Ontario’s Far North, covering an area of about 225,000 square kilometres.
Early in the school year, NAN youth council representative Jason Smallboy attended the school seeking signatures for a petition against the bill.
“We’re trying to use this situation as a teaching tool,” Kakegamic said. “We’re following the news and keeping students aware of what’s happening.”
When the bill passed its third reading, some of the students were listening to it live with Kakegamic.
“I was disappointed in the vote,” Kakepetum said.
“I was sad and disappointed, I almost cried,” Keewasin said.
“It was so frustrating to be part of something outside our control,” Hudson said.