Minister needs to step in to save Central

February 23, 2010

http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2453881

Recently, I wrote to the Ontario Minister of Education, Hon. Leona Dombrowsky, asking her to help save Barrie Central Collegiate.
Countless constituents, students and alumni are gravely concerned over the fate of Barrie Central Collegiate.

Founded in 1843, Barrie Central is the only high school in downtown Barrie. The apprehension is certainly warranted considering the decision by the Simcoe County District School Board to strike an accommodation review committee (ARC) on the matter.

Historically, this usually means a school closure is imminent.

Closing Barrie Central could mean another 1,000 students riding buses to attend other area schools already stretched far too thin. Adding to the overcrowding is going in the wrong direction.

For years now, it has been shameful to see so many essential institutions in downtown cores falling to the wreckers' ball without ever being replaced. People moving out of downtowns due to a lack of services leave so many cities and towns all across Ontario rotting from the inside out.

Through the Places to Grow Act (2005), the government of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty was supposed to address this sad reality. The province established the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure to 'manage the funding required to renew and rebuild Ontario's public infrastructure, such as bridges, hospitals, schools and other public buildings'.

I appealed directly to Minister Dombrowsky after our local MPP, Aileen Carroll, excused herself from the debate over closing Central.

Carroll stated that "these decisions are the purview of the school board" and that she would not "step into that."

While her refusal to involve herself is regrettable, I mostly took exception to her statement that "Places to Grow does not speak specifically about schools."

Simcoe Area: A Strategic Vision for Growth (June, 2009), an addendum that builds on Places to Grow, clearly states: "The Growth Plan will revitalize downtowns to become vibrant and convenient centres; create complete communities that offer more options for living, working, learning, shopping and playing."

In the section titled Strong and Vibrant Urban Nodes, the act is specific in addressing the need to focus on "major institutional development, particularly in the downtown Barrie Urban Growth Centre' and the need for 'enhanced community services such as schools in these urban nodes."

It is interesting to note that the very same plan also called for a resolution to the Barrie- Innisfil boundary dispute. Under the pretext of the Places to Grow Act, the province saw fit to intervene in that matter.

I asked Ms. Dombrowsky that the same rationale apply in this case and respectfully asked her as education minister to step in to save Central. At the very least, I suggested that the province, with its ministries working together, could lead a partnership to find a solution for Barrie Central.

The federal government cares about downtown Barrie.

Recently, the government of Canada pledged $2.5 million for a new downtown theatre.

Downtowns are the lifeblood of a community like Barrie.

Taking this celebrated and vitally important Barrie landmark out of the downtown core will rip the heart out of our city.

Patrick Brown is MP for Barrie