On the day of the Great B.C. ShakeOut earthquake preparedness event, a debate rumbled on about whether the government is moving fast enough on seismic upgrades to schools.
The B.C. NDP said of the 10 schools the government promised would receive upgrades in 2013-14, only three are under construction. Two of the three are on the Island, with work beginning on George Jay Elementary in Victoria and École Phoenix Middle School in Campbell River.
“They’ve fallen hopelessly behind in their timeline,” said Rob Fleming, the NDP education critic and MLA for Victoria-Swan Lake. “There are some schools that are at risk in our district and there are some parents who have been waiting a long time for projects that are waiting to get underway or have only just begun.”
In 2001, the Liberal government promised $2.2 billion to upgrade 213 high-risk schools to help ensure the safety of students in an earthquake.
According to the Ministry of Education, as of September, 143 schools had been upgraded, 10 schools were under construction, seven schools were nearing construction and 53 schools had been supported to proceed.
The government estimates it will cost another $600 million to upgrade the remaining 126 high-risk schools in the province.
Wayne Hunter, chairman of the Saanich school board, said construction has yet to start at Cordova Bay Elementary and Parkland Secondary schools. Work at both schools was set to begin in the spring.
“The parent groups in those schools are quite frustrated because they are waiting for the seismic issues to be attended to because their schools are a reasonable priority,” Hunter said.
“So there is a bit of angst. There are other schools waiting in line and so those schools are delayed a year at least or maybe more.”
Experts with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. and the University of British Columbia’s civil engineering department have studied schools across the province to determine those most at risk. Factors include whether the school is located in B.C. seismic zones, the soil characteristics, building configurations and varying levels of earthquake intensity.
“B.C. is a leading jurisdiction on seismic research and seismic safety with experts from around the world coming here to learn from our work,” Education Minister Peter Fassbender said in a statement.
It’s predicted that B.C. could face a major earthquake in the next 50 years due to its proximity to Canada’s most volatile fault line.
Organizers of the Great B.C. ShakeOut said 690,000 B.C. residents registered to join the international drill.
