New West school board chair says new high school won't be built on burial remains

The chair of the New Westminster school board says that when the district builds a high school to replace an existing one, the new school will not be rebuilt on the burial remains that the existing school is currently located on.

On June 7 the provincial government announced they will provide $106.5 million to rebuild New Westminster Secondary School the most expensive education investment in the history of B.C., according to the province.

• B.C. to build controversial new high school in New Westminster

Parents in New Westminster have been arguing for a new secondary school for more than a decade, telling the province the only high school in the city is old, run-down and overcrowded.

School won't be on burial sites: board chair

School board chair Jonina Campbell said the existing school was built almost 70 years ago. She said the new building will be more modern and allow for new teaching methods.

Groups like the B.C. Union of Indian Chiefs and Canadians for Reconciliation saythey're opposed to the project, because the current school is built on top of a former cemetery where the remains of Chinese pioneers and First Nations leaders were buried.

Campbell said the new school will be built in the same location, but away from areas where there are remains.

"We are committing to not building the school on burial sites," she said.

"This is an opportunity to actually change something that happened that was wrong, a long time ago. We can create a space on that site that memorializes the historic use. People were treated in a way that was not right, and we want to make sure that we are able to take that space now and memorialize that."

Move is a 'desecration,'opponent says

Bill Chu, the founder of Canadians for Reconciliation Society, said he doesn't believe the school should be rebuilt in the same location.

"The public needs to understand that what they're talking about is the desecration of a commissioned cemetery," Chu said.

"None of the descendents have been contacted, none of the stakeholder groups and there are 33 of them on this site."

He said that even though the new school won't be rebuilt exactly where the current school is, he believes they will not be able to build without coming into contact with remains.

"It's not a matter of whether they would, it's how many hundreds of thousands that they would run into it."

Chu said an alternative site could have been chosen for the new school.

Only appropriate site, chair says

Campbell said that the school board did explore other possible locations, but said that this school was one of three schools (including a new elementary and middle school) in the district's capital project plan.

"We had to work with our colleagues at the city in order to do a lot of land exchanges and joint-use agreements, just to create enough space for an elementary and middle school. So there was nowhere else for us to put a high school other than on this site," she said.

"New Westminster is only 15 square kilometres. People have to appreciate how little remaining space there is."

Campbellsaid that the district will put together a project team to explore the site, and said that they will work with a stakeholder advisory committee headed by Teresa Wat, the minister responsible for multiculturalism.

She also said an archeologist will be present whenever work is taking place on the site, and said the district will use new research and historic information they already have to ensure the school won't be built on burial sites.

The school will serve more than 2,000 students and is scheduled to open in 2019.

"This is a win-win. We are creating an opportunity for students to go to a state-of-the-art school, in a modern facility, and at the same time we can create an opportunity to raise awareness around the historic use of this site."

With files from Jesse Johnston and MaryseZeidler.