BC Liberals: Vancouver school construction on hold thanks to billion-dollar museum project

THE BC Liberals on Monday said that as Premier John Horgan and the NDP government roll ahead with their billion-dollar vanity Royal BC Museum (RBCM) project, Vancouver-False Creek MLA Brenda Bailey is walking back her 2020 promise to build a new school in Olympic VillageĀ as the cash-strapped province puts a freeze on new school construction projects.

ā€œIn the October 2020 provincial election campaign, Brenda Bailey promisedĀ the NDP government would build a new elementary schoolĀ for the fast-growing community of Olympic Village,ā€ said MLA Karin Kirkpatrick, Opposition Critic for Education. ā€œItā€™s extremely disappointing to watch her throw her support behind a billion-dollar museum project in Victoria as she backtracks on this important promise to her constituents.ā€

A recent letter from the Vancouver School Board (VSB) to Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside expressed its dismay at the NDP governmentā€™s decision to freeze construction on the new Olympic Village elementary school, as well as the much-needed False Creek Elementary seismic upgrade project.

ā€œAs residents of this high-density Vancouver neighbourhood wait for the NDP government to make good on its promises, parents have no choice but to send their kids to the neighbouring Simon Fraser Elementary,Ā which is at 185 per cent capacity ā€” theyā€™re beyond fed up with the empty rhetoric of this government,ā€ said Kirkpatrick.

The BC Liberals pointed out that the time to build the new Olympic Village school is running out, as the 99-year lease includes a stipulation that construction must occur no later than January 31, 2024.

Letter: May 27, 2022, Vancouver Board of Education letter to Minister Jennifer Whiteside