BURNABY – Christy Clark and the B.C. Liberals have failed to seismically upgrade Montecito Elementary in Burnaby this year contrary to their pre-election promises, say B.C.’s New Democrats.

“Christy Clark knew what to say before the last election, when she promised 10 schools, including Montecito Elementary, would be seismically upgraded in the next year,” said New Democrat MLA for Burnaby-Lougheed Jane Shin. “But she didn’t deliver.”

“Montecito Elementary is still waiting for construction to begin,” said Shin.

In April 2013, Christy Clark promised 10 high-risk schools would be upgraded in 2013-14. But with the 2014-15 school year well under way, work has only been started on three of them.

“The premier knew exactly what people wanted to hear when she said ‘nothing is more important than keeping our kids safe,’ then she did what she wanted. You just can’t take her at her word,” said New Democrat Leader John Horgan.

New Democrat Education spokesperson Rob Fleming said that this promise was clearly just another photo-op announcement from the premier with no follow-through.

“Parents across B.C. send their children to school every morning expecting they will be kept safe. The truth is that more than a hundred schools in B.C. may not withstand a major earthquake and the B.C. Liberals are not living up to their promise to fix them,” said Fleming.