Whitehorse: The Government of Yukon should take the time needed and properly plan the new F.H. Collins project, says Klondike MLA Sandy Silver.

“The announcement by the Premier that the government has already chosen a new design concept is not a good start,” Silver said.  “Before even talking to stakeholders the government has made a big decision on the way forward.  When you combine that with the announcement that a new tender will be released this fall it leaves very little time to engage the public in a re-designing process.  It looks like the government has already decided on a new course of action and it doesn’t want to hear what the public thinks.”

Silver believes completing the school before the next election is driving the short timeline for a new tender.

“The Yukon Party has already messed this project up once but it seems intent on doing it again,” he said.  “Instead of worrying about cutting a ribbon on a new school during the next election campaign the government should be focused on taking the time to get it done right.”

Silver says he would like the government to examine the potential of rebuilding the trade wing at the school now that the old project has been scrapped.  The recently completed feasibility study for a CentreFor Northern Innovation in Mining at Yukon College demonstrated the strong demand for these skills.

“This presents an opportunity to revisit the short-sighted decision not to improve the trade facilities,” he said.  “The demand for these skills is on the rise across Yukon and Canada and it makes sense to examine this possibility.  The Minister of Education himself has spoken about the need for more training of this type. ”

Silver called on the Premier to release the work done by two independent estimators and any other cost estimates on the now scrapped design.

‘The more information the public has the better,” he said. “Perhaps these documents will shed some light on why the government was so off on its cost estimates.”

Silver also called on the Premier to release a full accounting of the money that has been spent so far on this Yukon Party fiasco.

“The budget documents indicate that between $5.2 million and $6.7 million has been spent on the project to date,” he said.  “The government knows how much money it wasted and should have no problem releasing that information to the public.” 

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For additional information contact: 

Jason Cunning 667-8942