Mr. Speaker, young Shannen Koostachin had a dream that all children should be able to go to what she called big comfy schools, schools that gave them hope and inspiration. Now, Shannen had never seen a real school, because the children of Attawapiskat First Nation were educated in portables in a toxic field.
Shannen knew that this was not right, so the children began to organize, and they reached out to youth across Canada to help them fight for a school. When she was age 13, she was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize. However, Shannen never lived to see her dream come true, because she died last May in a horrific car accident.
However, today Shannen's dream lives on in Motion No. 571, which would end the systemic underfunding of first nation schools. We invite all politicians, first nation leaders, students, and educators across Canada to make Shannen's dream a reality, because no child should ever have to beg or fight for an education in this country.