Goldie Ghamari - December 02, 2021


MPP Goldie Ghamari & Hon Stephen Lecce announce funding for schools in Findlay Creek & Stittsville


Episode Stats


Length

30 minutes

Words per minute

155.07999

Word count

4,715

Sentence count

135


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.160 well good afternoon everyone my name is Goldie Gamari I'm the member of provincial parliament
00:00:04.640 for the riding of Carleton here in Ottawa and it's my great honour to welcome the Honourable
00:00:12.480 Stephen Lecce Ontario's Minister of Education as well as Thomas D'Amico the Director of Education
00:00:19.760 for the Ottawa Catholic District School Board and Marc Bertrand who's the Director of Education
00:00:25.280 for the Conseil des Ecoles Catholiques du Centre-Est. I'd also like to welcome Chair of the
00:00:31.520 Catholic School Parents Association, Aaron Ladouceur, and President of the Paul Desmarais
00:00:37.200 School Council, Stéphanie Levesque. And with that, I will now hand it over to Minister Lecce.
00:00:43.680 Welcome Minister. Thank you so much. Good afternoon everyone. It's exciting to be with you virtually
00:00:50.080 as we announce some really solid progress for building new schools
00:00:54.320 for families in Ottawa and in Sitzville specifically. It's very exciting and I'm
00:01:00.000 great to be joined by so many partners in education including Mark, as noted, the chair of the Ottawa
00:01:06.000 Catholic School Board, I recognize Tom D'Amico, the director, Joanne Macomb, chair and president of the
00:01:13.120 Conseil de l'École Catholique de Saint-Est, Mark Bertrand, the school's director of education,
00:01:20.000 Aaron from the Catholic Parent Association and Stephanie, the president of the Pau de Valle School
00:01:24.800 Council, all of whom we are grateful for your advocacy and your partnership to get us to this
00:01:29.600 point. We obviously recognize how important it is that we're building new schools in the province
00:01:35.040 of Ontario and we've invested heavily with respect to our capital program to really ensure schools
00:01:42.080 are renewed and meet the needs of growing communities, which is so obvious is the case
00:01:46.960 as Goldie has expressed numerous times with explosive growth we need to make sure our schools
00:01:51.200 keep up with that growth. This round of capital funding the province announced is going to create
00:01:56.560 more than 19,700 student spaces and more than 3,000 affordable child care spaces which is
00:02:03.840 really exciting and really needed in regions across Ontario particularly in the fast-growing
00:02:09.520 community of Ottawa and I know the growth will require more schools and more child care which
00:02:14.560 is why we're here today. I mean, the last time a new school was built in the Ottawa Catholic School
00:02:19.200 Board was 2018. For our French Catholic partners, it was 2020. I'm proud to say since we took office,
00:02:28.800 the government has approved 15 education-related construction projects in the Ottawa area
00:02:33.520 specifically, all part of the broader $14 billion capital investment over 10 years to build new
00:02:39.520 schools to renovate schools and obviously to expand child care spaces within those schools
00:02:45.040 and we know families across Ontario will benefit from these investments and I want to take up
00:02:49.440 an opportunity to share some of these great the great news specifically for Ottawa
00:02:53.120 and for Stittsville parents following a great level of advocacy by your NPP by Goldie Gamari
00:03:00.560 and the parent associations and councils and the board themselves we're very pleased
00:03:06.000 our government will be providing the ottawa catholic school board 13.2 million dollars to
00:03:11.360 build the finley creek elementary school to help working families in ottawa and also to provide
00:03:18.880 modern accessible well-ventilated spaces for children to learn i know how important this is
00:03:24.720 to the community i've heard it i've met with members of the community and i know goldie
00:03:28.720 worked very hard. I mean, I've got to tell you folks, she's a fighter. She wanted this done.
00:03:35.440 She believes time is of the essence. The community is growing very fast. And I'm really pleased to
00:03:40.460 see over 507 new elementary spaces that are going to be created, as well as two child care rooms
00:03:48.440 licensed for 39 child care spaces. And that's going to make a difference to help create accessible
00:03:52.520 spaces for families to drop off their kids while they're also dropping off their children in their
00:03:57.000 schools. Now, I'm also pleased to tell you about another investment we're making in support
00:04:03.840 of the Conseil Scolaire du Centre de l'Ontario, henceforth known as CECCE. I'm proud to confirm
00:04:14.760 on behalf of Goldie and our government that the government will be providing $12 million
00:04:19.040 to the board to help improve the Ecole Secondaire Catholique Paul de Morey in Stittsville. This
00:04:24.940 This investment will support hardworking families by adding 389 new secondary student spaces.
00:04:32.900 It's all part of our broader investment to make sure our schools reflect the needs of
00:04:37.360 our communities.
00:04:38.360 And we remain strongly committed to investing in our schools to ensure children are able
00:04:43.440 to learn in modern spaces that have a focus on STEM learning.
00:04:48.940 The new projects are in direct response to the needs of Ottawa and Stittsville families.
00:04:53.120 We hear you.
00:04:54.120 is more to do we're obviously aware after many years of closures and rule and suburban parts
00:04:59.880 of our material that we need as a government to build new schools and renew the facilities
00:05:04.360 your children are learning that are safe they're high quality and modern and to protect students
00:05:10.120 and their families one of the first priorities our government made was to make sure that all schools
00:05:14.280 existing schools and those of course going forward have the have really high quality ventilation over
00:05:19.960 600 million dollars invested the auto catholic school board we provided over 50 million dollars
00:05:24.600 specifically ventilation funding to ensure a safer return this september and the board have
00:05:30.520 approximately 900 standard hepa units in place similarly we did the same for the concept secondary
00:05:37.320 scolaire the district catholique de salt east of ontario with over 10 million dollars of funding
00:05:42.120 provided to improve ventilation and over 1200 standard hepa units are in place in that board
00:05:47.720 as we speak these are making a difference in keeping our schools safe and keeping them open
00:05:53.000 during this unprecedented challenge and the ongoing reality of the pandemic and i know for
00:05:58.840 families i just want to recognize parents it's been tough uh through this pandemic we know that
00:06:03.480 one of the big priorities for us was to make sure we're providing direct financial support
00:06:08.440 and literally over a billion dollars of monies of direct financial support been provided to
00:06:13.880 parents in ontario really with the aim of trying to reduce the challenges you face particularly
00:06:18.840 financially through the hardship of the pandemic that included the doubling of the payments for
00:06:25.160 children at the 400 payment 500 for children's special education need we've done that multiple
00:06:30.120 times and we're now at over 1.7 billion dollars in financial support so we're going to continue
00:06:35.560 to invest we're going to continue to make this a priority i want to just recognize uh the
00:06:41.160 incredible advocacy of Goldie and thank her for her ongoing work. I know there is more work to do
00:06:46.440 for the record that this is an explosive growth in your community. I just want you,
00:06:51.080 your government, is very much committed to continuing to invest and make this community a
00:06:55.560 priority. If I'm not mistaken, Goldie, this brings you up to seven school projects approved,
00:07:02.440 unprecedented investment, probably nearing over 80 to 90 perhaps as much as 100 million dollars
00:07:08.200 of investment in one community one riding that's impressive by any measurement probably is the
00:07:13.720 top 98 percentile of investments in any community so we're going to keep going and i'm going to
00:07:19.320 turn it over to you goldie and thank you and your community for the strong work and advocacy you've
00:07:24.040 done thank you minister lecce for joining us for this announcement this is this is absolutely
00:07:30.680 incredible news um it's much needed in in the community and i'm just very grateful for
00:07:40.040 for everything that you have done to support both finley creek and riverside south and stitzville
00:07:47.160 um and i'm not sure how i've how i've been able to to do it but being able to build uh
00:07:55.080 secure funding to help build seven new schools in three years. It's very important to me and
00:08:02.360 I'm just really grateful that I've been able to be so successful and to be able to rely on
00:08:08.440 our government to get the funding to support these very important projects. You know, this
00:08:15.160 is excellent news for the rapidly growing community of Finley Creek. You know, quality and accessible
00:08:20.760 public education is very important to me as someone who is a product of Ontario's public
00:08:26.360 education system I believe giving students the opportunity to learn in a modern and more
00:08:31.480 importantly a local environment helps prepare them for future success and so this new Catholic
00:08:37.960 elementary school in Finlay Creek is not going to just add much needed child care spaces but
00:08:43.800 it's also the first elementary school in Finlay Creek and I'm hoping that this will help alleviate
00:08:50.680 some of the pressures both in at Vimy Ridge and also in the surrounding surrounding Halfway schools
00:08:59.800 as well and with respect to Stittsville, the new addition of 380,000 places for the students at
00:09:09.880 l'école secondaire catholique Paul Desmarais et une excellente nouvelle pour la communauté
00:09:15.340 grandissante de Stittsville. Je crois que tout le monde devrait avoir la possibilité d'apprendre
00:09:21.340 en français. Cet investissement de 12 millions de dollars est essentiel au soutien de la
00:09:28.780 population francophone croissante de Stittsville et contribuera grandement à l'ajout de place
00:09:35.320 and thank you very much to the parents of Findlay Creek and everyone in the community
00:09:56.440 who signed my petition that was available online in support of building the first
00:10:02.440 catholic elementary school in finley creek and with that i would now like to introduce
00:10:09.160 thomas domico chair of the ottawa catholic district school board to say a few words
00:10:15.880 thank you mr lecce and mp gamari over the last seven years trustee spencer warren along with
00:10:22.680 our chair of our board mark mullen and our vice chair jeremy whittett and all of the
00:10:27.080 ottawa catholic school board trustees have voiced the need to build a catholic school in finley creek
00:10:32.440 In addition to the staff at the Ministry of Education and MPP Kamari, I'd like to thank City
00:10:37.720 Councillor Carol Ann Meehan for her support and advocacy for building a new state-of-the-art
00:10:42.280 facility in Finlay Creek. We're fortunate to have wonderful parents like Roxanne Marlborough and
00:10:47.640 Erin Lattiser leading the Catholic School Parent Association and our Parent Involvement Committee
00:10:53.320 advocating for the best possible learning conditions for children right across Ottawa.
00:10:58.120 As volunteers, they tirelessly bring the voice of parents to our board.
00:11:02.440 Today's announcement will soon end the practice of busing Catholic students from Finlay Creek
00:11:08.360 area out of their community, something that has been happening for the last 15 years.
00:11:13.720 The ministry's $13.2 million investment will allow our planning and facilities department
00:11:19.060 staff under the direction of Superintendent Miro Valla to continue the design of modern
00:11:24.660 facilities that are conducive to deep learning in the Ottawa Catholic School Board and provide
00:11:29.540 well-rounded Catholic education to our students. So on behalf of our Chair Mark Mullin, our staff,
00:11:35.620 parents and students of the Honourable Catholic School Board, we thank the Honourable Minister
00:11:40.020 Stephen Lecce and MPP Goldie Gamari for this investment in Catholic education. Thank you on
00:11:45.780 behalf of our entire school community. Thank you very much Thomas and now it's my pleasure to
00:11:51.940 introduce chair of the um sorry director of education for conseil des écoles catholiques
00:11:58.740 du centre-est mr mark bertrand thank you honorable mr minister lecce mbp gomari for the writing of
00:12:07.220 carlton joanne lacombe president du conseil des écoles catholiques du centre-est jolene savoyd
00:12:13.540 conseillère scolaire au secteur statesville madame lévesque président du conseil d'école
00:12:17.940 Chair Mullin, Director D'Amico, chers collègues et parents et représentantes et représentants
00:12:24.120 des médias. Je suis très heureux de vous adresser quelques mots alors que nous soulions
00:12:28.740 aujourd'hui l'octroi d'un financement qui permettra l'agrandissement de l'école secondaire
00:12:33.200 catholique Paul-Démarré. Cette nouvelle est attendue depuis plusieurs mois par cette
00:12:37.720 communauté scolaire en pleine croissance et a été revendiquée par la table politique
00:12:41.940 ainsi que l'administration du CEC-CA depuis quelques années.
00:12:44.840 It is important and indeed crucial to recognize the need for expansion and new school construction
00:12:51.320 in areas such as Stittsville where we have seen a growing Francophone population.
00:12:56.580 I would like to thank Minister Lecce for funding that will allow the CECCE to move forward
00:13:00.900 with its expansion project to add 18 new classrooms.
00:13:05.440 I would also like to thank MPP Goldie-Gumari for her proactivity and continued support
00:13:09.440 for this important capital project at the CECCE.
00:13:12.920 The petition launched by your office in October certainly demonstrated the importance that
00:13:17.060 the public places on the implementation of this construction project.
00:13:20.560 Depuis son ouverture, il y a 3 ans, pas moins de 375 élèves se sont ajoutés à cette
00:13:27.320 communauté scolaire, ce qui, comme vous pouvez en douter, a entraîné des défis en termes
00:13:32.800 d'espace.
00:13:33.800 L'école compte actuellement 22 classes mobiles.
00:13:36.880 L'agrandissement permettra donc d'offrir des installations adaptées aux besoins des
00:13:41.480 and to reduce the number of outside classes. The Catholic School Paul Desmarais is a real source
00:13:49.100 of pride for the CECCE and for the families of the sector. I am so grateful to see that the
00:13:55.240 Ministry of Education knows the importance of this school in the Francophone community of Cityville.
00:14:00.980 Thank you to all those who are present today to celebrate this announcement. I wish
00:14:06.680 longues vie à cette belle école en pleine expansion et à la communauté francophone
00:14:10.600 intervescente du secteur thank you once again minister lecce and mpp gomari for your support
00:14:17.240 thank you very much i'd now like to invite erin laduser chair of the catholic school parents
00:14:25.160 association to say a few words thank you very much mpp gomari um my name is erin laduser and
00:14:35.560 and I am the current chair
00:14:37.720 of Catholic School Parents Association.
00:14:40.040 And I'm here representing CISPA and our PIC committee
00:14:45.300 as well, Parent Involvement Committee,
00:14:46.980 and our chair, Roxanne Marble.
00:14:52.460 We want to thank our OCSB school board trustees,
00:14:55.560 our director of education,
00:14:56.960 our superintendents of planning and facilities and finance
00:15:00.120 for all their work in developing
00:15:01.600 and presenting a convincing business case
00:15:03.640 for a new Catholic school in Finlay Creek.
00:15:05.560 Thank you to Minister of Education Leche and local MPP Gamari for listening to our parents and our students who believe in Catholic schools and their neighborhoods.
00:15:15.180 It is encouraging to know our local concerns can be heard and addressed at the highest levels of the provincial government.
00:15:21.220 I know this school will become a learning hub of activity in Finley Creek.
00:15:25.760 On behalf of all of our Catholic school families, we thank you.
00:15:29.320 Thank you very much Erin and I'd now like to introduce President of the Paul Desmarais
00:15:38.040 School Council, Stéphanie Nevesque, to say a few words. Thank you. Hi everyone.
00:15:45.000 I am today to you as President of the Secondary School of Parents of the Secondary School Catholic Paul Desmarais,
00:15:53.000 but also as a mother of three children, one who graduated a few years ago and two who are still in the 11th and 12th grade.
00:16:02.000 And I assure you that we, parents, we rejoice in this good news that has been happened for a long time.
00:16:09.000 Paul Desmarais is a school who is relatively young, but has known its own lot of challenges.
00:16:15.240 During the first year, for example, the students could only integrate the school at the mid-year
00:16:22.520 during the second semester. And for more than three years now, the rapid growth of the
00:16:28.680 school effect has made sure that the students and the school personnel should be conjugated with
00:16:35.000 des classes portatives à l'extérieur. Je les félicite d'ailleurs de leur patience et de leur
00:16:40.400 capacité d'adaptation pendant cette période. Qui dit portative dit beaucoup de défis,
00:16:47.120 dit déplacements qui sont difficiles pendant l'hiver, dit du bruit, moins d'espace aussi
00:16:53.420 pour jouer à l'extérieur. Et la pandémie a également exacerbé toutes ces conditions qui
00:17:00.140 sont très difficiles. En bref, aujourd'hui c'est l'heure de se réjouir. Les élèves pourront bientôt
00:17:07.400 sortir des portatives et profiter d'un environnement extérieur scolaire qui est à hauteur de leurs
00:17:13.600 attentes et ils pourront pleinement profiter des merveilleux programmes de Pôle des Marais.
00:17:18.740 Le Conseil d'école des parents suit ce dossier d'agrandissement de près et ce depuis bien
00:17:26.300 long time. So I would like to thank the Minister of Education, Mr Lecce, and also the CECCE for
00:17:35.900 all the marches that have been implemented auprès of the Minister, to ensure that this
00:17:40.760 project of growth is considered as priority. The community of parents and
00:17:47.180 students of this beautiful school is really gated. I have hâte to see the first
00:17:52.860 Thank you so much to everyone.
00:18:01.500 Merci beaucoup. So once again, thank you everyone for joining us today.
00:18:06.860 And thank you to Thomas D'Amico and Marc Bertrand for reaching out to me.
00:18:13.340 And, you know, we have very frequent meetings to talk about various initiatives.
00:18:19.660 and you know it's it's i'm glad that we have that open line of communication um so we can talk about
00:18:26.300 about these initiatives and others i also want to give a special thank you to minister leche
00:18:31.020 for taking the time to join us today for this really important announcement um you know making
00:18:37.740 time for uh communities like stitzville and finley creek minister um it's you know we're all very
00:18:44.860 appreciative of it you know you you are basically responsible for an entire province and um i'm just
00:18:51.420 very grateful that you uh you took the time to be with us today for these very very important
00:18:58.700 announcements um especially since i think you're the minister i probably uh hassle the most uh
00:19:06.540 in queens park in the legislature and also over the phone i'm constantly um messaging you and
00:19:11.580 texting you because you know the reality is Finley Creek and Stittsville and the entire
00:19:16.080 Ottawa area it's just it's a rapidly growing community and even now I mean houses are still
00:19:21.820 being built and it's just so great to see not only so many schools being built but the fact that
00:19:29.820 you know in our economic outlook not only did we overspend by one billion on education but
00:19:38.740 But there was an additional 200 million that was spent as well.
00:19:42.560 So it's great to see us as a province investing in local communities.
00:19:48.220 And I think this is excellent news for people of Sitzville and Finley Creek.
00:19:53.460 And yeah, so just, you know, thank you very much for that.
00:19:57.240 Brilliant.
00:19:59.400 Well thank you.
00:20:01.400 I really appreciate that feedback.
00:20:03.900 I want to say you know it's very easy for governments to cut checks, but it's difficult for communities to come together to advocate for the needs of children, and I find this was heard mentioned earlier by some of the parents.
00:20:17.560 Not always government decision makers, you know hear those voices, and I think you you really are the gold standard of Community leadership and advocacy and I think this is what happened if not for.
00:20:28.980 your collective advocacy and the good work of your member.
00:20:32.260 So congratulations on these.
00:20:33.820 I know we'll be back next year
00:20:35.460 because how can I announce a capital round
00:20:38.060 without investing in Ottawa and Stittsville families?
00:20:40.320 But anyway, we'll turn it up maybe to the media
00:20:43.480 for some questions and then we'll wrap it up.
00:20:50.600 So if anyone has any questions,
00:20:52.300 please feel free to raise your hand
00:20:54.900 or um and i can get you uh calling here charlie you want to go ahead hi there charlie sinek here
00:21:05.220 from the bar haven independent to manitouk messenger newspapers my question is uh for
00:21:10.260 goldie gamari but also uh minister lecce you might want to chime in here a little bit as well
00:21:15.780 um obviously this funny announcement for findley creek is is essential uh we've seen how overcrowded
00:21:22.020 the schools in the community has been uh just this week we saw a report about vimy ridge public
00:21:28.500 school which states that they're so overcrowded students from grade seven and eight might need
00:21:33.620 to move to another school in the community within the coming years um that school is also overcrowded
00:21:39.780 so i'm wondering if there's any um thoughts going into also opening up a public school within the
00:21:47.060 community um it's something the ottawa carlton district school board has been calling for
00:21:52.260 for multiple years now and it's been on their capital a priority list for a number of years
00:21:57.220 now as well so i was wondering um if any thoughts have went into that thank you charlie for the
00:22:03.860 question before i pass it to the minister um so i frequently meet with um all the school boards
00:22:10.100 just so i can uh be updated on on what initiatives are happening what their capital priorities are
00:22:15.620 and when i met with the ottawa carlton district school board back in july to talk about their
00:22:21.940 initiatives they did speak about their capital priorities and finley creek was number four
00:22:26.500 on the list that they provided to me at the time and we did speak about overcrowding and at that
00:22:31.460 point they did not seem to think that it would be an issue so with the the recent news that
00:22:39.620 came out a few days ago, it caught everyone by surprise, including myself, especially since
00:22:47.460 Finley Creek has not been at the top of their list. So my mess and I know that there is a board
00:22:52.900 meeting happening on the 7th, which I will be attending. And I have been in communication
00:22:59.060 with parents and I've let them know that I will be viewing or attending that meeting. But I will
00:23:06.020 also be organizing a town hall meeting afterwards for parents to see what we can do but having said
00:23:13.140 that the first step is for the school board to make it their top capital priority if it's not
00:23:19.380 their top capital priority that makes it a little difficult to move forward so that's the first
00:23:26.180 thing the second thing is obviously you know the overcrowding is is problematic and I can you can
00:23:35.140 rest assured that i have spoken with minister lecce about this several times and um and he is
00:23:40.500 aware of the situation and the minister if you'd like to add anything to that yeah i mean i i'm
00:23:46.740 aware that the school was opened a few years ago over capacity and there's i think 17 portables i
00:23:53.380 believe i read in some local media a few days ago and i appreciate why parents are concerned and
00:23:58.660 rightfully frustrated i mean you just want your child to go to school within a school
00:24:02.580 and you want them to be safe and local which is why today we're announcing an investment in a
00:24:08.020 brand new school for uh finley creek and a an expansion of an existing school this will be
00:24:13.860 seven now seven new schools uh either entirely new which the majority are or major expansions
00:24:20.340 and i just want families in the community we're talking about maybe reach public schools
00:24:24.500 specifically yeah um so yes goldie's definitely briefly on that particular incident that
00:24:29.460 particular school what i can just say to families is so far in two years uh where seven schools
00:24:35.940 approved today we know there's more work to do we know that fast-growing communities
00:24:42.180 including i believe it was noted in one of the reports that there was uh historic uh
00:24:50.340 housing being built uh just in 2020 i think i read 680 net new homes graded in that community
00:24:56.740 in a singular year so i appreciate the problem and i'm going to work with goldie on a solution
00:25:02.820 and of course the higher priority it is placed on the board's top 10 list to the ministry it
00:25:09.620 definitely elevates the importance to the ministry when we review these things because as you can
00:25:15.620 appreciate folks there's billions of dollars of requests every year oh yeah okay just over half
00:25:20.500 a billion to build schools in ontario so we'll continue to work with the community and the
00:25:26.100 leadership of your MPP Goldie Gamari to find solutions that help keep your kids close to home
00:25:33.300 in a modern school uh if you have a follow-up Charlie you can go ahead
00:25:40.100 oh yeah so just for a quick follow-up I'm just wondering with this new uh Catholic elementary
00:25:45.540 school opening within the Findlay Creek neighborhood is that expected to maybe take
00:25:50.100 uh some of those students who would have otherwise maybe went to Findlay Creek or Steve McLean or one
00:25:55.300 of the other schools in the neighborhood it may be a question that micholdy you may have or the
00:26:03.460 board may have any perspective on that yeah i think i think maybe the board um uh someone from
00:26:09.220 the thomas do you have any yes i'd be happy to answer the question um right at this point we
00:26:15.460 don't know how many catholic students have selected to attend the public school elementary
00:26:19.940 school in their community uh we do know that there's about 370 that are being bussed to other
00:26:25.060 communities so i do anticipate that a new catholic school would alleviate some of that pressure
00:26:30.260 uh in the immediate needs for the for the uh community yeah i mean it's not an insignificant
00:26:37.940 school i mean we're talking about uh 507 spaces so it it should but if it doesn't i assure you
00:26:45.380 all work with your member and the community as we look forward to bring forth solutions that
00:26:51.060 provide quality educational options for families in both English and French and Catholic in public
00:26:58.020 respecting our respecting the choice parents will make great Frederick if you want to go ahead
00:27:09.300 yes well I was wondering if MPP Goumary are you comfortable in giving an answer in
00:27:15.140 This is for Radio-Canada.
00:27:18.140 So I can understand perfectly.
00:27:20.140 I'll try my best.
00:27:25.140 Okay, perfect.
00:27:27.140 I just wanted to know, I'll ask you the question in English.
00:27:30.140 I just wanted to have your opinion on how were you able to choose this school
00:27:34.140 and why not a new school, you know, instead of making this one bigger?
00:27:40.140 We see that there's a lot of need and the community is growing.
00:27:43.140 Why did we choose to make this one bigger instead of building a new one?
00:27:47.140 I'll try to answer in French as much as I can.
00:27:51.140 So, the decision for the expansion of the school is a decision from the Catholic Council.
00:28:01.140 So basically, when we met, they provided me with their top priorities and Paul Desmarais was one of the top priorities.
00:28:10.140 and I was advocating for Paul de Marais expansion because that was at the top of their capital
00:28:20.940 priorities list. I don't know if you want to follow Mark on that. Well, I would, yes,
00:28:27.180 Absolutely, I would like to ask you a question, Mr. Bertrand,
00:28:31.180 about the vision of the school council.
00:28:35.180 Tell me about the needs.
00:28:37.180 I'm going to show you images in the sector.
00:28:39.180 There are 22 offices in the rear.
00:28:41.180 There are a lot of offices.
00:28:43.180 There are a lot of students who need to go and go and go, even in the summer.
00:28:47.180 It's difficult.
00:28:48.180 And we see that the sector is in expansion.
00:28:51.180 There are several residential projects and construction projects.
00:28:53.180 Tell me about the importance of this investment.
00:28:56.180 For the school, Paul Desmarais and its community, it is of great importance because it will improve the experience of the students' learning experience while they will be able to follow several courses inside the main building rather than just having to serve a mobile class.
00:29:13.180 So, it's really important. And for us, an increase in 18 classrooms will certainly
00:29:19.180 allege this pressure. It remains that there will be some classrooms mobile classrooms,
00:29:24.180 but at the same time, the CECCA, in its capital plan, also vise other projects,
00:29:31.180 obviously, who are present annually at the Ministry of Education.
00:29:34.180 And so, we hope for the next time, the next round, that another secondary school
00:29:38.180 in the sector could be offered.
00:29:41.180 Thank you.
00:29:50.180 Anyone else has any questions?
00:29:52.180 Or we can wrap there, Frederick.
00:29:55.180 You got your follow-up.
00:30:02.180 Okay.
00:30:03.180 It doesn't seem like any other media has questions.
00:30:07.820 So I think we are okay. Thank you everyone and thank you Minister for joining us today
00:30:14.700 for this very exciting announcement. I'm thrilled and can't wait to get some shovels in the ground.