Proposed campus move not practical

I believe the notion of moving the Nova Scotia Community College Marconi campus downtown is as ill-advised, as much as it is being given momentum by current Premier Stephen McNeil who stated: “This project is moving. We’re doing it.”

The fact of the matter is while it’s good to be positive, it is still being quite assumptive that the pending study will endorse this grandiose plan before the consulting firm has even been found. I don’t entirely dismiss the idea, but think it is prudent to be critical of such an endeavour and the costs associated with it.

Is it a practical solution?

I don’t think so. I haven’t heard that Marconi’s buildings are crumbling, nor are the students struggling for classroom space. Even if the latter is true, there are two solutions that could be implemented on the short term.

First, see if Cape Breton University (CBU) would share space for a nominal fee or, better yet, to accomplish the lofty goals of incorporating NSCC in downtown Sydney, assist them in acquiring some of the empty downtown buildings and convert them. The units above could be converted into student housing or further office/classroom space. There is more than ample room already. Now, you may dismiss fracturing the campus, but it wouldn’t be the first NSCC campus to do so. NSCC Cumberland has a majority presence in Springhill and a minority in Amherst. The distance between the two is longer than the drive CBU to downtown Sydney and they don’t seem to be poorer for it, and it hasn’t made any attempt to move entirely to Amherst either.

Second, does this really help students? Those who were interviewed for the Cape Breton Post article will be graduated before even ground is broken. It won’t impact students until those who are currently in grades 6-8 reach adulthood. Who is going to pay for the cost? It will be those students by means of tuition increases and even if the government assists, is it a reasonable addition to the provincial debt? It was $15.7 billion as of March 2016. Sure, it will be more accessible to students from Sydney, but even more inaccessible for students in Glace Bay and New Waterford areas, which all of these areas do have a bus system that can take them to campus already, along with North Sydney.

Rent will no doubt increase, as will property values, but how is that helping students who wish to establish a permanent residence afterward? If anything, it may serve to further drive them outward, along with those who struggle in minimum wage jobs, from the downtown core. According to the study ‘Cape Breton Regional Municipality: Tenants and Tenant Experiences’, published in 2016 by Dr. Catherine Leviten-Reid and Bridget Horel, the cost of housing is high in the area compared to income assistance levels.

Perhaps the provincial Liberals should get the most bang for its buck and jump on board with the federal Liberal government’s National Housing Strategy which is committing $40 billion over 10 years. On a sliding scale, housing is a more important human right than education and it is in a poorer state of affairs in the CBRM. It could employee NSCC trade students on paid work-terms (as most are unpaid) or go towards employment subsidies for local construction firms to help bring older buildings up to code and improve habitability.

It would then be helping with housing issues, helping improve the downtown core (and surrounding areas) and helping students by providing immediate employment and helping the area retain its youth. Overall, the cost would be less and the ripple effect onto the local economy would be greater than moving the campus. Kelly Robert Lindenschmidt Sydney