AMC Calls for Immediate Action as Lake Manitoba First Nation Faces Unsafe School Conditions
May 15, 2026
Treaty One Territory, Manitoba
Marty McLean
Treaty One Territory, Winnipeg, Manitoba (May 15, 2026) — The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) stands firmly with Chief Cornell McLean and the leadership of Lake Manitoba First Nation in their urgent call for immediate action to protect the safety, dignity, and well-being of their children. No child should be forced to attend school in conditions where doors do not lock, fire code standards are not met, and overcrowding has pushed students into aging portable classrooms for decades.
Lake Manitoba School is more than 50 years old and continues to face serious infrastructure and safety concerns, including doors that are not up to fire code, broken hardware, overcrowding, and long-term reliance on portable classrooms for students of all ages.
On May 14, 2026, Chief and Council passed a Band Council Resolution formally raising their concerns about the condition of Lake Manitoba School and calling on Indigenous Services Canada to reconsider its position. The school currently serves 321 children, and leadership has made clear that without the necessary safety upgrades, they are prepared to close school operations on June 30, 2026, as a measure to protect the safety of children and youth in Lake Manitoba First Nation.
What makes this situation even more unacceptable is the glaring inequity between how provincial schools and First Nations schools are treated in this country. The Province of Manitoba continues to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into public school upgrades, including HVAC systems, roof replacements, structural repairs, accessibility improvements, additions, renovations, and entirely new school builds. Yet First Nations are still forced to fight for basic safety upgrades that should never be in question.
Canada continues to speak about reconciliation and equitable education outcomes while simultaneously failing to honour the commitments necessary to make that possible. Regional Education Agreements were intended to support First Nations control of First Nations education and provide stable, long-term funding models that recognize the real operational, maintenance, language, cultural, and infrastructure needs of our Nations. Instead, negotiations across the country have stalled because Canada has failed to secure the funding necessary to finalize and implement these agreements.
This failure has direct consequences for our children. While provincial schools receive predictable capital investments and operational supports, First Nations schools are left managing crumbling infrastructure, overcrowding, deferred maintenance, and unsafe learning conditions with inadequate and unpredictable funding envelopes.
Education is not a discretionary program. Education is a Treaty right. The federal government has both a legal and moral obligation to ensure First Nations children receive learning environments that are safe, properly maintained, and equal in quality to those enjoyed by every other child in Manitoba and across Canada.
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs calls on Indigenous Services Canada to immediately provide the necessary funding for emergency safety upgrades at Lake Manitoba School and to commit to the construction of a new school that meets the needs of current and future generations. AMC also calls on Canada to end the delays and honour its commitments to First Nations education transformation by advancing fully funded Regional Education Agreements that include adequate operations, maintenance, and infrastructure supports.
Our children deserve more than temporary fixes and political excuses. They deserve safety, dignity, and the opportunity to learn in environments that reflect their worth and the promises made under Treaty.
For more information, please contact:
Communications Team
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs
Email: media@manitobachiefs.com
About The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs:
The AMC was formed in 1988 by the Chiefs in Manitoba to advocate on issues that commonly affect First Nations in Manitoba. AMC is an authorized representative of all 63 First Nations in Manitoba with a total of more than 172,000 First Nations citizens in the province, accounting for approximately 12 percent of the provincial population. AMC represents a diversity of Anishinaabe, Nehetho / Ininew, Anisininew, Denesuline, and Dakota Oyate peoples.