Airdrie goes to the Legislature

This is a big week for Airdrie. As you’ve likely read or heard, we had a great rally last week where Grade 9 student, Leah Moore, presented me with a petition of over 3300 signatures to take to the Legislature. On Tuesday, Leah, representatives from the Airdrie Council of School Councils, myself and many others will take our case for more schools to Edmonton. We will hold a news conference on the steps of the Legislature that morning; members of the Council will meet with 2 key Ministers; and I will present the petition, make a presentation to the Legislative Assembly and question the Premier on that presentation in Question Period.

We should all be very proud of Leah as well as the tremendous efforts of the Council of School Councils led by Donna Pearce and Stephen Goodall among others for spearheading this effort. Our Trustees and both our current and former Mayors have also contributed greatly to the cause. But without the support of the thousands of Airdrie parents who have actively participated in this initiative, the ship would never have left the harbour. Thanks to all of you for making a difference for our kids.

Below is the presentation I will make to the Legislature on Tuesday (I only have 2 minutes to give it, so it is quite brief):

Mr. Speaker, last week hundreds of parents, teachers and students held a rally in Airdrie calling on this Government to immediately address our City’s school shortage.
 

The number of public students in Airdrie has increased by roughly 1500 in the last 5 years – yet in that time, not 1 new school has been announced. However, during that same 5 year period, 6 new schools were announced for Edmonton Public despite their enrolment decreasing by roughly 1000 students.

How is this discrepancy explained? How are 10 schools supposed to satisfy the needs of 6500 public students in Airdrie, yet Medicine Hat has 20 public schools to satisfy the same number of students? How did 32 schools get announced just prior to the 2008 election – yet not one ended up in Airdrie?

Here are some numbers from this Government’s last budget.

$2 billion dollars budgeted for grants to Alberta’s largest corporations to pump CO2 into the ground – that amount could build 133 new schools.

$200 million dollars budgeted for subsidies to businesses - that’s enough to build 13 new schools.

You see, it’s not about spending more taxpayer money. It’s about spending the money we have wisely. It’s about putting needs before wants – and priorities before pet projects that government has no business being a part of. It’s about making decisions objectively based on the needs of Albertans – rather than making political decisions based on favours owed to politicians.

Mr. Speaker, my community is tired of the excuses. We just want enough schools for our kids. This Minister and this Premier have a chance to correct the mistakes of the past, and begin the process of winning back the trust of Airdrie voters; please Mr. Premier – the ball’s in your court - don’t play politics with our kids.