It’s good news. Period.
And we offer a simple and sincere thank you to Education Minister Mike Bernier for closing the deal.
The government has committed over $100 million to a new high school in New Westminster. According to the Ministry of Education it’s the most expensive school project to date. And while it may not have all the bells and whistles promised in previous plans, it will be mighty welcome to future students and educators.
Frankly, we had started to believe that only an earthquake would have triggered the project. And, hopefully, we can rest easy knowing that a new school is on its way.
Now, not everybody believes that it will actually happen. It has been announced before and then put on the back burner. The detours this project has taken in the last 15 years have made us dizzy. And it has frustrated New Westminster citizens to the point of outrage and anger. One citizen suggested the process has been so traumatic that it was hard for her to be truly jubilant. So, it’s understandable that there would be skepticism in the city over this latest announcement.
Some have suggested that this is just an election ploy for the Liberals and if they lose to the NDP the project would be deep-sixed. But that’s not logical. If the NDP did oust the Liberals in the next election, does anybody honestly believe that the NDP would risk the public’s wrath by stalling or killing the project? We don’t think so.
And concerns that protests about the old cemetery on the project will derail it seem minimized given the education minister’s committment to proceed and build a memorial on the site.
Now, if during construction “surprise” remains are uncovered in areas that were not marked as potential burial sites, we suspect it will slow down the project. Few massive construction projects ever meet their opening deadlines, so we wouldn’t be surprised if the opening target date of December 2019 is missed. But, as the local paper that has been covering this issue for as long as we’ve been publishing, the Recordis going to continue to be on this story like a pitbull on a pork chop.
We believe we’re on the right road now, but we’ve hit speedbumps and dead ends before, so we’re prepared for whatever we encounter in what we hope is the final leg of the journey.
