Whitehorse needs a downtown school, opposition says

The Yukon government has been under fire this week from some parents and the opposition parties, over its plans to close the city's only downtown elementary school and replace it with a new facility elsewhere.

Opposition MLAs also passed a non-binding motion from the NDP's Emily Tredger calling on the government to ensure that the downtown continues to have an elementary school. 

The territorial government announced last June that it would close the existing Whitehorse Elementary School building, and construct a new facility in the Takhini neighbourhood. The government said the existing 73-year-old building needs renovations, and it's cheaper to just build something new.

On Wednesday, a group of parents showed up at the legislature to show their support for Tredger's motion. The MLA for Whitehorse Centre also presented dozens of letters from city residents who say they want a school in the downtown.

Brook Land-Murphy was among those who showed up to the Jim Smith Building on Wednesday. A downtown resident, Land-Murphy has two children who attend Whitehorse Elementary.

"We, like many other people, were blindsided by the government's announcement in June 2022 that they were going to close … and move the school up to Takhini," she told CBC News. "We chose to build our house downtown so that we could walk everywhere."

Last fall, Land-Murphy was behind a petition urging MLAs to press the government to ensure there's a school in downtown Whitehorse. The petition also called for consultation on the matter. She also wrote to the government this week making the case for a future downtown school.

Land-Murphy believes leaving downtown without a school will lead to families moving away, sapping the community of its vitality. She sees a school as critical to ensuring the neighborhood maintains its diverse character, with residents of all ages.

"Good urban planning includes things like sidewalks people can walk and it includes things like having amenities and schools and libraries," Land-Murphy said. "And downtown is currently the third-largest neighborhood in Whitehorse. It's projected under the city's [Official Community Plan] to grow to be the second-largest."

Tredger's motion passed with the unanimous support of opposition MLAs, and no votes from the minority Liberals. 

The motion does not specify that the government should scrap its plans to move Whitehorse Elementary School; rather, it calls on the government to "ensure that there continues to be an elementary school in downtown Whitehorse."

"The motion we brought forward was deliberately a little bit vague about the specifics because we wanted to give the government as much flexibility as possible to to make the decisions they have to make," said Tredger.

"But at the same time, we really want a commitment that there will be an elementary school downtown."

Whitehorse Elementary is a French immersion school, so many students are bused from elsewhere in the city. Tredger argues that the French immersion program might best be moved elsewhere, while keeping a public elementary school on the current downtown site. 

"I think there's a lot of possible solutions," Tredger said.

This week, the Yukon Government announced it was beginning public consultation on replacing and renovating aging schools in Whitehorse. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Premier Ranj Pillai said a report on the feedback received will be released this summer.

"I think it's important to note that nobody on our side of the bench said that there would not be an elementary school in the future and in the downtown core of Whitehorse," Pillai said.

The premier said the government wants consultation to conclude before making decisions on new school infrastructure in the city's downtown.

"What we want to do is make sure we talk to the affected First Nations governments. We want to make sure that we talk to the people of downtown. We want to talk to the different school groups to understand what they want so we can make a decision together," he said.

Pillai said about 50 Whitehorse Elementary students live downtown. But he added there are hundreds of kids who live downtown who attend school in Riverdale and Takhini.

Population trends will also be a factor.

"I want to see downtown see much greater density. I want to work with the City of Whitehorse to support that. Their Official Community Plan supports that," Pillai said.

"And those are things you absolutely have to contemplate when you're thinking about future infrastructure such as elementary schools or other amenities."

Exact dates on school construction still not set, minister says

The opposition Yukon Party attempted in the legislature this week to show that construction of the new school in Takhini has been delayed. The party pointed to the government's five-year capital plan that says the project "may be adjusted or deferred" to allow for further planning, design or stakeholder engagement. It also noted that in this year's capital plan, funding for the replacement has been extended until the 2027-28 fiscal year.

However, the capital plan also says adjustments are made each year, that projects and their budgets change as they move from planning and design to construction.

Education Minister Jeanie McLean says a timeline has never been set for the new school building.

"It's still too early in the planning to talk about the exact dates," she said.

The Yukon Party also probed the government on its consultation with stakeholders before last June's announcement of a new facility to be built on the Takhini educational land reserve, which is beside Takhini Elementary School and is now home to softball fields.

Party leader Currie Dixon said Softball Yukon could lose three of its fields on the reserve. He said nearby residents would lose green space. As well, he said putting a 500-student school in an area with an existing school would lead to issues with traffic.

"If you're going to choose a location for a new school, the largest elementary school in the Yukon, you should consult with people before making the decision, not after," Dixon said.

McLean has said her department is working with a project advisory committee. She pledged further engagement, including with Softball Yukon, local First Nations and the First Nations School Board on the exact location of the school on the land reserve.

The Takhini site, McLean said, was chosen for its "central location," access to green space for modern learning and is large enough to accommodate French immersion students. She added that it has "always been known" that the softball fields are located on an educational reserve.

"We know that there will be a lot of work to mitigate some of the potential issues and we're prepared to do that work with our community with all of our partners," McLean said.