Ontario's new Tory government has cancelled a $100-million fund earmarked for school repairs this year, a cut that comes as a result of Premier Doug Ford's campaign promise to scrap the province's cap-and-trade system.
School boards were notified on July 3 that the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund would be eliminated and that only work contracted on or before that date would be covered.
The Simcoe County District School Board would have received $1.17-million to put towards major renovations on seven schools. Upgrades to things like HVAC systems, lighting, mechanical and building automation enhancements will now be put on hold until the board can find alternate funding.
Barrie North Collegiate, Portage View Public School, Emma King Elementary and Hillcrest Public School are immediately affected by these changes.
Sarah Kekewich is with the SCDSB and says the board had a five-year energy conservation plan in place. She says the impact of this announcement “to our annual energy budget and energy conservation achievements is significant.”
Kekewich says they were on track to continue major financial savings.
“With year one Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funding, which concluded on March 31, we were able to significantly reduce our energy use and greenhouse gas emissions through retrofitting 23 schools. This work also resulted in a notable annual energy cost savings of $677,000, a reduction of 10-million equivalent kilowatt hours of energy and elimination of 1400 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. “
Ford campaigned on a promised eliminate cap-and-trade and revoked the regulation laying out the program as one of his first acts after he was officially sworn in on June 29.
- With files from The Canadian Press
