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.