News Release - February 4, 2011

VICTORIA - After meeting with Ministry of Education staff this week, Opposition MLAs Maurine Karagianis and John Horgan say the BC Liberals are continuing to stall on the funding for the Belmont Replacement Project, an urgently needed plan to support the educational needs of children in School District 62.

Belmont Secondary School, constructed in the 1950's, is the lone high school in the West Shore community serving a population of over 48,000.  Several years in the formation, the proposal to replace Belmont Secondary School with two new schools has the support of Ministry of Education bureaucrats, local elected officials, and the broader public. The Board of Education has put forward an innovative capital plan to replace the existing facility with two new buildings, more suitably located to meet population growth and the needs of students now and into the future. 

"What is urgently needed to make the plan work is a commitment from the provincial government," said Maurine Karagianis, MLA for Esquimalt-Royal Roads.  "To date, the government has pleaded poverty.  But if we have $563 million to put a new roof on BC Place, why wouldn't we have capital dollars to ensure our children get the quality education they need to compete in the global economy?"

This region, one of the few that are growing in student numbers, needs expanded and modern education facilities to match the outstanding student achievement in the District. New schools will be designed and built to green standards and be seismically safe for students and faculty.  This not only means operating savings, which is good news for the District budget, but it means our kids will be learning in a safe environment with the most technologically and environmentally advanced classrooms.

Both MLAs challenge all Liberal Leadership hopefuls to examine this innovative and cost saving project and say they would provide the necessary funds if elected Premier.

"The replacement of Belmont must happen, for sound public policy reasons and not partisan politics," said Horgan.  "That is what the public expects and that is what our children deserve."

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