Building a future Major focus is on creating, renovating facilities that address mental health, education, housing
The first capital budget of Progressive Conservative Finance Minister Darlene Compton leans heavily on the replacement of the Hillsborough Hospital as well as school construction and renovations.
The $156 million capital budget includes an additional $47 million allocated to mental health facilities over the next five years, with the planned construction of the new Hillsborough Hospital being the key new facility. The budget also includes an additional $15 million for school construction and renovations over the next five years. School capital projects will include an additional allocation of $3.3 million for a new Sherwood School and $20 million over five years for renovations for three schools,
including Evangeline School.
The budget for the construction of the new Sherwood School will add up to $22.4 million. In addition, $1.2 million in new funding will be used for purchasing new gas-powered school buses and one electric bus. The new budget maintains the $38 million in funding for the construction of a new high school in Stratford.
The budget also includes funding for $23.5 million over the next two years for the construction of new housing, the bulk of which will be largely provincially-funded. Prior to last year’s capital budget, a line item for “housing construction” did not appear.
“We recognize we are fortunate to have commenced our mandate with a healthy economy and it’s our job to continue to support its growth,” Compton said.
The capital budget maintains the same spending – $156 million – for the 2020-2021 year as the last Liberal capital budget for 2019-2020. However, the five-year budget has been increased by close to $75 million to $684.7 million.
“We are increasing our spending in capital budget over what was projected before but yet keeping it within good fiscal management so that we remain with a good bond rating,” Compton said.
“The needs are there, and it’s a balance between what we can afford and what those needs are.”
In its election platform, the PCs had pledged to “immediately” replace the aging Hillsborough Hospital. The capital budget includes a total of $147.8 million for mental health facilities, up from $100 million pledged in the last capital budget under the Liberals.
The biggest increases to funding for Hillsborough Hospital appear in the 2021-2022 year. During that year, $38.2 million is allocated, a $23 million increase from the previous Liberal capital budget.
The budget allocated to the facility will decrease slightly
in 2020-2021 by about $3 million from the previous capital budget. The current capital budget allocates $12 million to the new hospital in 2020-2021.
Compton confirmed construction work for the new facility is set to begin in 20202021.
“It’s still in the planning stages,” Compton said.
The budget also includes $8 million for the implementation of a new electronic medical record system and $4 million for the implementation of the digital health ACCESS system. The system will allow electronic prescribing from doctors
to pharmacy offices.
In addition, the budget includes a $5-million allocation for rural health-care hubs in West Prince and in Kings County.
In terms of school construction, the budget allocates $20 million to planning for renovations to Evangeline school, Eliot River School and Montague Consolidated. Compton confirmed that $8.8 million of this will be allocated to significant planning and renovations for the Evangeline School.
Parents have complained about leaking roofs at the French-language school, with some suggesting an entirely new school is needed.
In terms of roads, $42 million is allocated over the next year for roadway and bridge repairs.
In addition, the province has allocated $750,000 to electric car charging stations, but the investment is drawn out over a five-year period at $150,000 per year. The previous Liberal capital budget had allocated $730,000 to electric charging stations, with all the investment taking place in 2019-2020.
“We want to ensure that the charging stations we’re putting in are current and the most bang for your buck and also what the uptake is for those charging stations over the next five years,” Compton said.
In terms of Justice and Public safety, the capital budget maintains plans for the $12.3 million construction of a women’s unit in the Provincial Correctional Facility in Milton Station, $8.5 million of which will be spent this year. Currently women are housed in men’s cells.
“We want to ensure those inmates feel safe in that facility,” Compton said.
Finally, the budget allocates $600,000 for the development of a new electronic record system for the court system and $1.8 million for the federally mandated completion of a new land use inventory over the next two-year.