To the editor,
This Thursday, I, along with over half a million British Columbians, will stop, drop and cover when we take part in the Great British Columbia Shakeout. It's an important event and a good reminder that, living in the most seismically active region in Canada, we need to be prepared for a serious earthquake at any time.
Unfortunately, no amount of preparation will help my daughter and her schoolmates in their 100-year old brick and mortar Bayview elementary if the walls crumble around them. Hers is one of 48 schools in the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»School District alone that has been identified as being at significant seismic risk. It's been eight years since a comprehensive seismic assessment of Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»schools was done and most are no closer to being replaced or reinforced. In the interim, B.C. Place Stadium has been retrofitted with a new roof at a cost of more than half a billion dollars-a fraction of which would have been enough to replace or upgrade every seismically at-risk school in Vancouver.
For the sake of all the children in B.C., make sure you know where your local candidate for the next provincial election stands on school seismic safety.
Judith Tracey, Vancouver
