Dear Editor,
Re: “Bernier put on hot seat,” News, March 15.
An actual funding announcement!
In the run-up to the May 9 provincial election, the B.C. Liberals have been scurrying around the province, making billions of dollars of funding announcements, none of which targeted Richmond directly.
Finally, the Liberals announced funding to seismically upgrade and expand Cook Elementary school (of course shovels are not expected in the ground until the summer of 2018; plenty of time to change their minds).
If the work is actually undertaken, completion is not expected until the fall of 2020 and will be only the fourth school seismically upgraded in Richmond. Fortunately for me, my wife works in one of the upgraded schools.
By coincidence, 2020 was when all schools in the province were to be seismically upgraded.
At the rate these upgrades are progressing, it will not be until 2095 when the remaining 25 schools currently listed as requiring upgrades in Richmond will be completed.
The estimated cost for this project is $14 million. Contrast this with the more than $300 million the Liberals have promised for Surrey schools and the promise of an additional $245 million for transportation improvements for Surrey/Delta.
Liberal MLA Teresa Wat trumpets that she is “Working for Richmond. Working for you.” I would suggest she, along with Richmond’s two other Liberal MLAs, is not working hard enough for Richmond, when compared to MLAs in Surrey.
Though the announcement is welcome, it does not mean the project will proceed.
The Liberals are big on announcements and photo-ops, but often fall short on delivery. To paraphrase, beware of Liberals (in particular and politicians in general) bearing gifts, particularly with an election imminent.
In 2013, Christy Clark announced that 45 schools were to be seismically upgraded over a three-year period. At the time of the announcement, Clark said “absolutely nothing is more important than keeping our kids safe.”
To date, 11 upgrades have been completed and a staggering 24 are still in the “business case development stage.” This is just one in a litany of Clark’s promises made and not kept.
She will say anything to get re-elected!
Of the 45 schools targeted, only one was in Richmond, Gilmore elementary. Four years later, it is still in the “business case development stage.”
This further highlights how our current Liberal MLAs are not working hard enough for Richmond.
Al Williams
Richmond
