Winnipeg school division breaks angry sweat as province funds new rural gym

A school trustee is accusing the government of pandering to rural voters after it granted a small town provincial funds for a new gym while denying a similar request from a much larger Winnipeg school.

"There is a double standard being applied here and quite frankly it just looks like a cynical pork barrel-style politics from the [Progressive] Conservatives," Mark Wasyliw, a trustee with the Winnipeg School Division, told CBC News.

"They are rewarding loyal rural constituencies that vote for them and punishing inner-city Winnipeg ridings that don't."

The previous NDP government had promised the school division and Kelvin High School funding for a new $6.7-million, 1,600-square-metre gym in 2014. Parents raised $1.2 million toward construction costs through various campaigns.

Kelvin parents learned in March the gym, as well as a sports field at Dakota Collegiate, would no longer receive provincial funds because "the cupboard is bare," Wasyliw said. Students spoke out at a protest in April outside the Manitoba Legislature.

And on Tuesday, the Pallister government announced it would kick in $4.5 million for a new gym at W.C. Miller Collegiate in Altona. The school, located about 90 kilometres south of Winnipeg, is part of the Border Land School Division.

Roughly 400 students attend W.C. Miller, while 1,400 attend Kelvin.

Province pleased to fund W.C. Miller build

"Young Manitobans need quality learning environments to succeed in school," Manitoba Education Minister Ian Wishart said in a statement. "This includes spaces where students can experience the benefits of sport, physical activity and recreation. We are pleased to support this much-needed gymnasium addition for students of Miller, their families and members of the community to enjoy."

'The existing gym at W.C Miller is approximately 40% smaller than the gym at Kelvin and a replacement is long overdue."- Provincial spokesperson

Wasyliw argues schools with enrolment levels such as Kelvin's are typically candidates for two gyms. Large Grade 9 and 10 classes at the school have meant the roughly 600 students in Grade 11 and 12 aren't able to use the gym, he added.

In its Tuesday media release, the province said the Altona school needs a new gym because of its low 5½-metre ceilings. The new 600-square-metre gym will have nearly 7.5-metre high ceilings along with a 90-square-metre adjacent gym space. With additional change rooms, office space and a 90-square-metre fitness room, the total space will span about 1,200-square-metres, according to the province.

Old gym poses safety concerns

The low ceiling has posed safety concerns and has made it difficult for students to play sports such as volleyball or basketball, said Border Land board trustee Craig Smiley.

The Selinger government agreed more than six years ago to fund the build, and Smiley says he is happy the new administration agreed to honour that commitment.

Meanwhile money has already been spent on planning the Kelvin gym, Wasyliw says, and he worries the about-face from the province could deter any private backers from filling the funding gap out of fear that shovels might never get into the ground.

"If the government is being honest with Manitobans in saying that they are doing value-for-money audits, or cost-per-pupil audits, the project in Kelvin is, in my respectful view, way more pressing," Wasyliw said.

"Why do the taxpayers of River Heights have to find healthy white knight donors to build a basic gym so students can get basic physical education, but the taxpayers in Altona don't have to pay for that? That's not right. This government is picking winners and losers and playing games with educational infrastrucutre."

'Based on needs, not noise'

A provincial spokesperson said in response that infrastructure funding decisions "are based on needs, not based on noise."

"The existing gym at W.C Miller is approximately 40 per cent smaller than the gym at Kelvin, and a replacement is long overdue," a statement from the province reads.

"We continue to work together with Winnipeg School Division on projects that are prioritized in their capital plan."

The old gym at W.C. Miller will be redeveloped for other purposes after construction of the new space starts in September, Smiley said.