School delays don't equal a broken promise, says premier

Alberta Premier Dave Hancock is dismissing suggestionshis Tory government is breaking a promise by admitting it won't beable to build 50 new schools by 2016.

Hancock said Thursday that critics need to focus on the outcomerather than on the timeline.

• Province rejects P3 approach for building 19 new schools
• Construction of Calgary schools delayed after province rejects P3 option

"We will get those schools done as quickly as they possibly canbe done," Hancock said at a news conference.

"Our target is to still get them done by 2016. In some cases, itmay be slower than that, but it won't be because wehaven't putevery effort into getting them done.

"Outcomes are what's important to Albertans, and outcomes arewhat we deliver."

No broken promises, says premier

Former premier Alison Redford promised during the 2012 electioncampaign to build 50 new schools and modernize 70more by 2016 -- thenext election year -- to reduce overcrowded classrooms.

Government ministers have stuck to that promise even though noshovels have broken ground.

On Wednesday, Infrastructure Minister Wayne Drysdale said 19 ofthe 50 new schools will be delayed. They were to bebuilt on a partnership basis with private contractors under a so-called P3 model.

But Drysdale said the final price tag on the P3s was pegged atalmost $571 million -- $14 million higher than what itwould cost theprovince to contract out to build the schools by itself.

The decision to go with the traditional approach has set thoseschools back until 2017, but Drysdale said the other 31are still ontrack for 2016.

Eight of the schools are in Calgary and another three are inEdmonton.

Delay has consequences for students

NDP education critic Deron Bilous said the Tories had been shown data for years that the P3 model was uneconomical, but stuck with it on the ideological belief that the private sector can always deliverthe same service for less cost.

The delay has real-life consequences for students working inportables, Bilous said, and for kids being bused to schoolsthat arefurther and further away.

"It's ridiculous (for Hancock) to say focus on outcomes and noton timelines," said Bilous.

"School boards provincewide will tell you they needed newschools yesterday, not a delay."

Bilous said voters are once again paying for unrealistic promisesmade by the Tories in 2012 to deliver the vote.

The government is on track to owe $21 billion by 2017 to pay fornew roads, schools and hospitals.

Family-care clinics promise unattainable

Redford also promised 140 new family-care clinics to handle morefront-line health responsibilities and to take pressureoffoverburdened emergency wards.

Last month, Health Minister Fred Horne said 12 such clinics arein development and that 140 are unattainable.

Hancock said while the nuts and bolts of that health promise havechanged, the core commitment of better front-linecare is beingdelivered either through other changes or through existing primary-care networks.

Primary-care networks are run privately by doctors, whilefamily-care clinics are overseen by community boards.

"Albertans know that when you talk about family-care clinics, what you're talking about is getting the best qualityprimary carefor Albertans and utilizing the suite of health-care professionalsand services to achieve that," saidHancock.

"They don't want us to build 140 clinics for the sake of having 140 buildings."