Mr. MacDonald: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since 2002 15 public schools in the Edmonton public school division have been closed, resulting in 6,900 student spaces disappearing from central Edmonton neighbourhoods. My first question is to the Premier. Given that Alberta Education and the government project that we are going to have 80,000 more students in the system in the next 15 years than we presently have, does the government not think that these school spaces that are closed and the proposed plans to close additional ones will be counter to the government's strategic plan?

The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Education.

Mr. Hancock: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are moving as fast as we can to build spaces for students where the students are. That obviously has implications for spaces where there are not student populations, and school boards have the obligation to rationalize their student spaces in the best interests of educational opportunities for their students. I have to say, Mr. Speaker, that the Edmonton public school board has one of the best examples of this with the city centre school project where, indeed, they had to close some student spaces a number of years ago, but they created better opportunities for the students in that area, better educational opportunities.

The Speaker: The hon. member.

Mr. MacDonald: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again to the Premier: given that McCauley school in downtown Edmonton is proposed for closure, how will that community and the students that live in that community be better served if that public school is closed forever?

Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr. Speaker, in the last series of questions I was answering why it's so necessary to have local boards to deal with the issues of local communities, and now I'm being asked about doing the local board's job. It is the school boards' job to make sure that the facilities that they have in place and the teachers that they have in place and the opportunities they have in place make the best possible educational opportunities for the students that they serve.

Mr. MacDonald: Mr. Speaker, to the Minister of Education this time. Surely he knows that he calls the shots with the public boards. If he didn't, he would give them the right to increase their mill rate if they saw fit to make a flexible budget for themselves. Now, given that — and this is a direct quote from Alberta's 20-year strategic plan — the plan is "to maintain and improve existing schools to ensure they can deliver top quality education for Alberta students," then why are you forcing Edmonton public to close another 5,000 student spaces in the central neighborhoods ofthis city? You're the political minister of this city, and you won't even defend it.

Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr. Speaker, we're not forcing school boards, either Edmonton public or any other school boards, to close schools. We're not forcing them at all. They have the obligation and the duty to make sure that they have the best educational opportunity for students. When the hon. member quotes the strategic capital plan, surely he must understand that when we're talking about renewing and improving physical space, obviously it's physical space that has value because there are students available to use that space. It makes no sense at all to read that to suggest that we fix and improve schools where there are no students.