The Campbell government’s failure to include rural community schools in the Premier’s Neighbourhoods of Learning (NOL) program shows that the program is being used for political opportunism rather than real need, says North Coast MLA Gary Coons.
Coons pointed to Tahayghen Elementary on Haida Gwaii as a school that would greatly benefit from the Neighbourhoods of Learning program. Located in an area known for one of the largest earthquakes in Canada’s history, the school is rated high risk by the Ministry of Education.
“Just last year Haida Gwaii was rocked by a series of earthquakes over magnitude six,” said Coons. “Tahayghen Elementary is a very vulnerable school in a very vulnerable location – these kids matter just as much as those getting special treatment in West Vancouver.”
Coons is concerned that schools are being chosen to benefit from the NOL program are based on political considerations, rather than by an unbiased assessment process based on risk and community benefit.
“This program should apply first of all to schools like Tahayghen which are in dire need of upgrading for safety reasons, and secondly to schools like Sir Alex Mackenzie, which used to serve as a valuable community meeting space before its gym was closed due to flooding,” said Coons. “Both Masset and Bella Coola have a serious need for more community spaces for families and children.”
Two of the first three schools to benefit from $30 million in NOL funding are already in Premier Campbell’s Point Grey constituency, an area which covers less than 24 square kilometres and is within easy access to many services for families and children. Citing the NOL pilot, the Vancouver School Board has now offered to fund additional building envelope space to four more schools in west Vancouver. Three of the schools are represented by B.C. Liberal MLAs Carole Taylor, Wally Oppal and Colin Hansen – all in close proximity to Gordon Campbell’s schools.
“The Queen Charlotte Islands cover more than 10,000 square kilometres, yet as far as the B.C. Liberal government is concerned, the people who live there might as well not exist,” said Coons. “Communities that have next to nothing in terms of recreational facilities and services for families should be the first to benefit from programs like Neighbourhoods of Learning, not the last.”
So far, only schools located near West Vancouver have been included in the program.