Carney announces $200M for new school, updated health centre in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced $200 million for an updated health-care centre and a new secondary school in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.

The facility will replace the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, which is being demolished after a mass shooting devastated the small northeastern B.C. community earlier this year.

Carney made the announcement Thursday in Vancouver as he unveiled a $5-billion housing and infrastructure fund for local governments, and $50 million to support community infrastructure projects in coastal B.C. communities like Terrace and Prince Rupert.

The Tumbler Ridge project, Carney said, will be funded equally by the province and the feds.

In a statement, the District of Tumbler Ridge welcomed the funding, stating that “for a community of our size, this is a significant commitment that will help ensure residents have access to modern educational and healthcare facilities for years to come.”

Tumbler Ridge is home to about 2,400 people and about 160 students across Grades 7 to 12 attend the secondary school.

They have since returned to class in portables set up on the grounds of the local elementary school.

The prime minister said the decision to spend the money came after he and Premier David Eby visited the community shortly after the shooting, which left eight victims dead, including the shooter’s mother and sibling, as well as five students and an education assistant. The shooter also killed herself.

“We heard directly from the students, their parents, the teachers,” Carney said. “And we talked about what could be done to begin to help heal from that trauma, that loss, that unspeakable tragedy.”

Carney said construction of the modernized facility will begin this summer, starting with the removal of the local school.

Eby announced in May the intention to tear down and replace the school “as quickly as possible.”

Announcement brings certainty: local leaders

Nicole Noksana, chair of the Tumbler Ridge Parent Advisory Council, said more details about the school replacement are a “good step in healing for our community and some assurance of what the future holds for our learners and our community members.”

The district statement also said the funding brings certainty to the community.

“Over the past several months, Tumbler Ridge has demonstrated remarkable strength, compassion, and resilience as it supports one another through an incredibly difficult period. Investments in essential services and community infrastructure help provide a foundation for continued recovery and long-term well-being,” the statement said.

Funding for water infrastructure in Prince Rupert

Carney also announced funding to accelerate homebuilding and other major infrastructure projects in B.C., including $50 million to support community infrastructure projects in coastal communities like Terrace and Prince Rupert.

Such projects will include water systems, Carney said.

Prince Rupert, home to Canada’s third-busiest port, has been dealing with ongoing drinking water issues, with boil-water advisories lasting for weeks or even months at a time.

Mayor Herb Pond said he didn’t have advance notice of the money but was happy it would be available.

“Anytime the prime minister of Canada is saying Prince Rupert in an announcement that involves money is a really good day,” he said.

Pond said staff are working to determine how the funding will be allocated but the most important project in his city is improving its water filtration systems, rather than relying on chlorination, as is the current case.

Given how many major infrastructure projects are being built or proposed for the northwest, he said he’s not surprised to see funding coming in the same direction.

“The whole [northwest] corridor is critical,” he said. “And that’s all about diversifying Canada’s economy … and it’s all dependent, of course, on having a thriving community that will attract workers and their families to those jobs.”

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