Manmeet Bhullar says schools on track despite poor economy

Albertas infrastructure minister says despite tough economic times, the schools promised last fall will go ahead.

School projects are critically important for us," said ManmeetBhullar. "Alberta is growing very quickly we have a large number of children entering our school system and we want to make it better for our children.

Bhullars optimistic update came just a day before the start of the spring session of the legislature.

Timing that is suspect to Albertas opposition parties.

Clearly this government has the intention of trying to play politics by announcing new schools first, trying to win votes second and then somewhere down the road maybe theyll build a school, said NDPMLADavidEggen.

Its disappointing, it should be disappointing for children and parents that are looking forward to going to these schools, said interim Wildrose party leader, Heather Forsythewho criticized Bhullar for not living up to promises made by previous Tory governments.

During the news conference, Bhullar came under fire for failing to build new schools more quickly.

He defended the governments progress on schools saying permitting and the planning and design stage can be time consuming.

Bhullar said public private partnerships or P3s will not be used to build the schools currently being planned as it wouldslow down construction.

Time has really been our driving factor on this, we wanted to make sure we got these schools built as soon as possible, Bhullar said.