NEW DEMOCRATS OFFER CONDOLENCES ON JORDAN WABASSE TRAGEDY
“My condolences go out to Jordan’s family, his friends, and his community,” said Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP Carol Hughes. “I am deeply concerned that there is a pattern of this kind of disappearance in the area and echo the call by Jordan’s family and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation for a police inquiry into his disappearance.”
“Our thoughts and sincere condolences are with Jordan’s family, his friends and his community,” said New Democrat Leader Jack Layton. “Like many of our Aboriginal youth, Jordan had to leave his community to get an education.
“First Nations families should not have to fear for their children’s safety when they are sent away for schooling. For too many of these students, an educational necessity ends in tragedy. This is unacceptable: our First Nations youth deserve the same protection and support as other youth in Canada.”
Webequie First Nation student Jordan Wabasse’s body was found in the Kaministiquia River in Thunder Bay on Tuesday evening. The grade 9 student is now the seventh Aboriginal high school student in the city to have disappeared and perished in the past decade.
Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty said “My heart goes out the Wabasse family. As a former principal of aboriginal high school I know that there are other options that can be explored when it comes to secondary schooling for students from remote communities.”
“I want to express my sincere sympathies to the Wabasse Family, the Webequie First Nation, and all of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation. I’d also like to commend the many volunteers who were tireless in their search for Jordan over the past months,” said Bruce Hyer, MP for Thunder Bay-Superior North. “The details of what happened still aren’t clear yet, but I am very concerned that inadequate educational and social support, combined with an unfamiliar environment hundreds of kilometres from home may be contributing to a disturbing trend affecting our Aboriginal youth. This is something an investigation must look into.”
