42 percent increase in per student funding in BC says Minister of Education

POTENTIAL SCHOOL CLOSINGS IN OSOYOOS – Hansard Report in Draft Form

NDP Victoria MLA Rob Fleming: Recently, families in Osoyoos learned that they may lose one or even both of their public schools because of Liberal cuts and unfunded cost pressures onto school districts. This is a decision that this local school board doesn’t even want to contemplate, yet alone force onto this community. Without local schools for their children, there’ll be huge economic impacts on Oyosoos’ ability to attract and keep businesses, skilled professionals and skilled workers in this town.

Last week over 1,000 people attended an information meeting, and there, the former mayor, Stu Wells spoke up and said this: “This is a decision ultimately made by the Minister of Education.” And: “I’d like to see the Premier come to this town and tell us that they’re going to close the school because that’s whose decision it is.” How right the former mayor is.
My question is to the Premier. Can she explain here in this House, to the people of Osoyoos, how forcing school closures is somehow good for families, good for kids and good for the economy of this town?

Hon. M. Bernier: Closing a school is obviously never an easy decision. In fact, I’ve got personal experience. We’ve had to shut a couple of schools down within my district. When you have declining enrolment, those are tough decisions that need to be made.

But those decisions are best made at the local level, the local school district. They’re the ones that understand the needs, the demands and the experiences that they have in the area, which are really what drive the decisions that are best made for the students in that area. Unlike the member opposite, we feel that’s the best place to make the decision — the locally elected school board, to make sure that they are respectful for the decisions for the students in their area.

Madame Speaker: The member for Victoria–Swan Lake on a supplemental.

R. Fleming: When funding for education in this province goes from second-best in the country to ninth-worst in the country, when we have $1,000 less per student than the Canadian average — as we do in British Columbia — the decision is being made by the Minister of Education, by the Premier and by the Liberal government, not by local school boards.

The sad thing for Osoyoos is that the current MLA, the member for Boundary-Similkameen, has even failed to show up to public meetings thus far on school closures. She hasn’t offered any ideas or even empathy to stop the closure of the schools.

This isn’t closing a school in the town of Osoyoos. It’s closing all the schools in Osoyoos, and I would remind the minister of that. This is what the local MLA said to her constituents: “There really is nothing I can say that will bring any level of comfort to the people of Osoyoos.” That’s the representation people from Osoyoos get from Liberals on that side of the House.

Let me remind the minister of this. The schools in Osoyoos are not empty. They have hundreds of students in each. Osoyoos Elementary has a capacity of 325 students, and it has 317 students in that school this year. The secondary school enrolment is growing in Osoyoos as well. What this government has failed to understand is the impact that these closures will have on families and communities.

The question to the minister is this: will he admit that this government’s disastrous $54 million cut for so-called low-hanging fruit is precisely why rural schools are being contemplated for closures? Will he stop turning his back on communities like Osoyoos and instead stand up for towns like Osoyoos so they can keep their school?

Liberal Minister of Education Hon. Mike Bernier: One thing that we’re fortunate about here in the province of British Columbia, because we have the best economy in Canada…. That’s why we’ve got the best investments. Because of that, we have record investment in our education system.

I also want to correct the member opposite. The member for Boundary-Similkameen has done an excellent job bringing all of the concerns and the issues of her constituents forward to me on a daily basis.

One more thing I’ll mention, since we’re on a roll here, and try to correct the member opposite. We have a 42 percent increase in this province on per-student funding. It’s a record in the province of British Columbia, for all of Canada — a record investment for our students.