As everyone in Airdrie is aware, our population is growing rapidly. However, despite unprecedented overspending by the PC Government over the past decade, many of our most basic infrastructure requirements (particularly the need for new schools) have been left largely unaddressed.
The reason for this is simple. Hundreds of millions dollars have been doled out based on politics rather than on the objective needs of communities. An egregious example of this was the 2008 election announcement of 32 new schools to be built across the province. Although many of the sites chosen were necessary, many of the new schools were announced in areas where the PCs were worried about shoring up support for the 2008 election. Because of this, Airdrie, the fastest growing city in the province, was left without even 1 of the 32 announced schools.
Furthermore, despite repeated requests by me for the Government’s lists of priority capital projects and the criteria used to arrive at that priority (something I asked for while in government and now in opposition), the PCs continue to refuse to publicly release such information.
Last week, I confronted the Minister of Education, Dave Hancock, on this issue:
Mr. Anderson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Rocky View school division and especially the city of Airdrie are at a crisis point with regards to school infrastructure. Airdrie students are holding classes in the library, the gym, and in some instances in the hallways. Trustees are even considering bussing kids into soon-to-be-closed inner city Calgary schools. The division is now begging for $5 million for 20 new portables to make a secondary temporary portable school in Airdrie. To the Education Minister, would you please reallocate just one of the 32 newly announced P3 schools to Airdrie, the fastest growing city in the province?
Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, with respect to the P3 program, that’s a process that takes a significant amount of time to put together. It is at its final stages, and announcements will be made soon. The school division that the member has referred to has a school in that project. Their top priority school is going to be built at Langdon, as they asked.
Mr. Anderson: That is completely out of touch with reality - you need to get your facts straight. Given that since 2005 Edmonton public schools have decreased in student population by 1,000 yet has received 10 new schools and given that during that same time Calgary received six new Catholic schools yet their Catholic student population went down by 700 students, why wouldn’t Airdrie get another school when their student population has risen by 1,500 students since 2005, yet they’ve received only one Public school and one Catholic school in that time?
Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There’s a very complex process of determining priorities for building schools. Unfortunately, in this year I didn’t have additional capital dollars to build new schools.
Mr. Anderson: Thirty-two schools, if they’re built in the right place is all that is needed. Given that Rocky View is projected to add 3,000 additional students in the next three years, most of them in Airdrie, and given that Airdrie’s projected population will be 70,000 people by 2025, will the Minister commit to come to the table with the local Rocky View trustees to discuss a short-term and long-term strategy for solving what will shortly become an emergency if you don’t take action?
Mr. Hancock: Mr. Speaker, finally, a reasonable question. Absolutely. That’s my job, to work with Rocky View and work with every other school board to try to deal with the issues that they have. In fact, there are solutions for Rocky View that we’re working on, and I believe that we’ll be able to accomplish some great progress in that area.
So do we have a problem or not? It looks like the government and especially the education minister are doing their best to avoid an embarrassing problem
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