Northern Lights School Division’s Superintendent of Education Jason Young speaks on Tuesday. Photo by Chelsea Laskowski
The Northern Justice Symposium in Prince Albert has started off with some big topics.
One might expect the topics to focus on crime and prisons. Instead, on Tuesday morning, about 200 people heard about the unique circumstances northern Saskatchewan faces.
Former Saskatchewan RCMP assistant commissioner Russ Mirasty says one of those is the relationship northerners have to a government that needs to do better at engaging them on a community level rather than just dealing with the community’s leadership.
“It has to be almost one-on-one. Some would say ‘well that’s impossible for government leaders to do that, but it’s not, quite frankly. If you want to know the north, if you want to know northerners, you have to speak to northerners on a personal level,” he said.
Former Saskatchewan RCMP assistant commissioner Russ Mirasty speaks. Photo by Chelsea Laskowski
But he emphasizes that the government’s failings don’t eliminate the responsibility of northerners, some of whom Mirasty says have become apathetic from the lack of support.
“Ultimately we have to take responsibility for our own behaviors, our own children, their education, their activities,” he said. “We have to recognize that some of it is ours to own. So when we accept that, then it’s ours to fix.”
The morning wrapped up with a chilling presentation from the Northern Lights School Division (NLSD) on the lessons they’ve learned, and actions they’ve taken, in the aftermath of January’s mass shooting in La Loche.
Superintendent of Education Jason Young says prior to this event, NLSD would have under-reacted to a risk to violence, and waited for it to blow over.
But now they’ve been trained in how to notice and address the signs.
Young says no one “just snaps.”
Now, staff at the division and areas around the division are trained in violent threat risk assessment — and they’ve already used that training to help students.