A Facebook post made by Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad drew a swift correction Thursday from College of New Caledonia president Henry Reiser.
The posting related to funding for the renovation of a new Vanderhoof campus of CNC. Rustad had claimed in a Facebook message posted on Wednesday that the B.C. NDP government would not be funding renovations to a building intended for CNC's Vanderhoof campus.
“There is no money to renovate the new CNC building in Vanderhoof which was supposed to replace the old campus building. This building will now sit empty,” Rustad wrote in his original post. “The NDP are following their old pattern of neglecting rural ridings and pandering to their supporters."
In a subsequent post Thursday, Rustad said the Mayor of Vanderhoof had shown him a text received from the deputy minister of Advanced Education, Skills & Training indicating that “the original money approved before the election was still in place.” Rustad said funding for the renovation had been part of a March 2017 announcement of funding for the purchase of new buildings to replace the current Vanderhoof campus. The announcement took place before the May 2017 election, which resulted in a change in government.
“At some point in the near future the government with CNC will be making some sort of announcement about the renovations for the new CNC campus in Vanderhoof,” Rustad wrote in the second Faceook posting, which he labelled a correction.
Rustad said a conversation with Reiser a month ago led him to believe the funding for the renovations in Vanderhoof had been turned down by the B.C. NDP government. He made the initial Facebook post as a result on Wednesday, thinking it would draw attention.
“It wasn't a casual conversation, it wasn't something out of context, it was a very decisive moment,” he said in a phone call on Thursday.
Reiser, in a conversation with the Citizen, said he had not told Rustad that funding for the renovations had been turned down.
"No that was a misunderstanding of what I said," Reiser said.
"I told him what I'd been telling him all along. We're just waiting for the funds to be released from the ministry, and we expect that to be the case."
Reiser said the college has submitted a business case for the renovation funding and is currently awaiting a decision, although he said he is confident the funding will come.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills & Training confirmed that the business case for the funding is currently being evaluated by the province.
Rustad said one positive indication from the disagreement is that an announcement of the approval of this renovation funding is likely in the future.
“It looks positive that there will be something on the way,” he said.
