School district officials in northwestern New Brunswick are making contingency plans to deal with a possible disruption of classes at an Edmundston high school.
The Madawaska Maliseet First Nation says it will prevent students from using the part of the Cité des Jeunes school that is located on its land if the provincial government doesn't sign a deal regarding highway access ramps in the area.
The Madawaska First Nation owns about half of the land where the high school is located and the province's five-year lease on the property has run out.
Chief Joanna Bernard has refused to sign a new lease. If the government wants a new lease on the school property, it will have to build highway access ramps to other property owned by the First Nation, Bernard said.
The First Nation wants to develop land in the area and says it needs the access ramps constructed if it is to attract business.
If no deal is reached with the provincial government by the time classes start on Sept. 2, the First Nation will prevent students from using the part of the school that's on Madawaska land, Bernard said.
The school's response will depend on how events unfold, said Bertrand Beaulieu, superintendent for School District 3.
"Our first priority is the security of the children and the personnel," Beaulieu said. "So if there's a major protest, definitely the kids will not be in school."
About 1,200 students attend the high school, making it too big to move classes to another location, Beaulieu said.
It's an unfortunate situation for the staff and students, he said.
"It's a shame that students are caught between those two problems because they're not implicated in the negotiations or anything. They're really caught in the middle," Beaulieu said.
Bernard said the government was first told the First Nation wanted the ramps off the Trans-Canada Highway five years ago, and since the Liberals came to power in 2006 she has met once with Premier Shawn Graham and about four times with Transportation Minister Denis Landry.
Landry said he won't be intimated by the threats from the First Nation.
The government will not be spending tax dollars to construct access ramps to what is currently an empty field, Landry said.
"Bring me solid proof that the business will come and install themselves there and then we'll see what we can do," Landry said.
Bernard said there are proposals for the property from one business but that it will not commit without highway access.