Could it be true?
Forgive us if we have become a tad cynical over the whole replacement high school thing.
We’ve seen these pledges before and then watched in disbelief as the years went by. However, Minister of Education Mike Bernier, (as reported on page one of today’s paper) does say the replacement high school is the top priority in B.C., and he does say an announcement will be made in a matter of weeks.
And he does say it will cost in the $100-million range, which leads one to believe someone has actually briefed him on the project.
Now, what he doesn’t say is how long it will take to get the whole thing rolling and how it will be implemented. The devil, as the expression goes, is in the details.
But we don’t think it’s a coincidence that the city has stepped in at this time to take over Massey Theatre and guarantee that it will survive any redevelopment on the site. And, we’re comforted by that decision.
We’re also glad the parents fighting for a new school haven’t cancelled their rally for Sunday. And, we’re glad a petition calling for a new school is circulating.
The fact that the petition is being launched and organized by the city’s NDP MLA is a bit unfortunate. Because no matter how much MLA Judy Darcy’s petition has been triggered by grassroot parents in the city, it will still be tainted as a political petition. Rightly or wrongly.
We also hope Bernier hasn’t thrown parents a bit of hope just to tamp down on their anger and frustration and dilute the rally. But, we think that’s probably not the case. After all, the province hasn’t up to this point displayed any concern about how upset New Westminster parents are regarding the school.
Again, we’ve been had on this before, but this time could be the real deal.
