Education Minister Jeanie McLean has confirmed the governing Yukon Liberal Party will ignore the will of the Yukon legislature by refusing to hold a public engagement to consult on alternative locations for a school relocation project.
McLean made the confirmation to reporters on Nov. 7.
The minister was questioned by media about the commitment the day after Yukon Party and Yukon NDP MLAs voted 10-7 in favour of a Yukon Party-led motion calling on the Yukon government to formally start a process to consider alternative locations for the future site of École Whitehorse Elementary School.
Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon pressed McLean for a commitment during question period on Nov. 7.
In response, McLean noted the territorial government has met with affected groups like Softball Yukon, Sport Yukon and the Takhini Neighbourhood Association to discuss the relocation of École Whitehorse Elementary School from downtown to where two softball fields sit on the Takhini educational land reserve.
The government held public engagement with Whitehorse residents on school capital planning, McLean said.
She has heard concerns about impacts to traffic and green space and has engaged with sport groups about the need for sport infrastructure.
McLean has also heard support in a letter from the École Whitehorse Elementary School council that she tabled in the legislative assembly.
“My job is to ask myself, what is best for children and act in their interest,” she said.
McLean pointed to her mandate to work towards a replacement school in Whitehorse, and the notion that École Whitehorse Elementary School was selected.
“We've made a decision to move forward with placing that school at the Takhini land reserve,” she said.
McLean addressed other locations that were weighed.
The minister indicated the current site of the downtown school isn’t suitable. The government had considered a Whistle Bend land reserve, but it wasn’t centrally located. They looked at the site of Grey Mountain Primary School, but there’s already a high concentration of schools in Riverdale. They considered the land next to Porter Creek Secondary School, but that would place “significant pressure on the current school infrastructure and prevent expansion of either school in the future,” she said.
McLean suggested the former Yukon Party government left the current Liberal government with a school infrastructure deficit and built F.H. Collins Secondary School “much too small” and without Yukoners’ input.
The old high school had a capacity of 1,200, while the new school was made for 750 students, according to the cabinet office. There are approximately 780 students currently enrolled at the school.
McLean told MLAs she won’t accept the hypocrisy from the Official Opposition.
Tim Kucharuk, the Yukon Party press secretary, said the decision around the replacement high school built in Riverdale under the Yukon Party was made in 2009, when Dixon was in university. Kucharuk noted the new school was constructed only 50-metres away from the old school’s location.
Yukon NDP Leader Kate White reminded reporters in the lobby of the legislature that the Liberal government’s initial announcement to move the downtown school to her constituency “came out of nowhere.”
“Let me tell you, that was a surprise,” White said.
The NDP has been propping up the governing Liberals through a confidence and supply agreement that specifies there are to be no surprises.
When speaking with reporters, Dixon noted the consultation the minister listed occurred after the current government’s decision was made.
“It's great for the minister to sit behind closed doors with her department and look at other alternative sites. But what we're seeking, and what the motion sought yesterday, was for a public engagement and for the education community writ large to be engaged and to seek feedback from those folks,” he said.
As for what options remain, here’s what Dixon said: “Yukoners have an option. They could not vote Liberal in the next election, because, as we've noted, the construction of the school is not going to be able to begin until after the next election.”
Yukon government cabinet communications followed up by email to note that the government is following the same process from 2019 for Whistle Bend Elementary School, which started with selecting an educational land reserve before working with “partners” on a project advisory committee to determine where on the site the school will go.
“We can’t seem to remember or find complaints from the Opposition about consultation on the location back then — guess we weren’t close enough to an election, so the Yukon Party didn’t see it as a campaign issue at the time,” cabinet communications wrote.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com
