Legislative’Assembly

the figures that I have. The rate of taxation, 8.2%, brings in $82,000.00 from real estate taxation, and a certain amount of this $32,000.00, has to go to the Begin] High School. $12,000.00 goes to the Regional High School, which leave $20, .00 to the Consolidated School District Unit. Perhaps they will get a couple of thousand dollars out of the poll tax, which means that this Consolidated District raises ‘2,- 000.00 whereas their annual obligation for the construction of a new school is $122,000.00, and this for a twenty-year riod. As we well know, and as my good friend the former Minister of Education ows, the government picks up the rest of the tab. In this case $100,000.00 per year for the construction of a new consolidated school. Is it any wonder, Mr. Speaker, that as a Department and as a Government we stop and look at these rising costs of school consolidation. Desirable though they are and valuable though they are, we can't close our eyes to their cost. As a matter of fact. it works out, as you can see yourselves, that the district is paying about ten percent of the cost of the consolidation and the government is paying 90%. Or to put it another way, the average district doesn’t raise enough through taxation to pay their share of the salaries of the teachers required in the school. That’s how staggering this whole business of school construction is in this province. They raise $22,000.00 — just barely enough to pay their share of the cost of the teachers’ salaries.

J. Cyril Sinnott: Would the Minister permit a question? Honourable Gordon L. Bennett: Yes, Sir.

J. Cyril Sinnott: What's the difference between raising taxes directly in the district, and raising them through government taxes? They have to pay them anyway.

Honourable Gordon L. Bennett: I would start to multiply this cost of consoli- dation figure that I gave just a moment ago by perhaps fifty such consolidations. If the figures that I have already cited are not impressive enough for the member from Fifth Kings, imagine fifty consolidations in the province.

J. Cyril Sinnott: Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to know what’s the difference between raising the taxation and raising the taxes directly or paying them through a government agency?

Honourable Gordon L. Bennett: The total cost, Mr. Speaker, of construction say of fifty consolidated schools, working on a perhaps a smaller school for this province and this is about what we need, is $20,000,000.00. Amortized annual costs would be $1,880,000. Transportation costs, likewise amoritzed, another $255,000.00, so that the total annual capital costs, if this program proceeds through to a logical conclusion. would be $2,235,000.00, just for capital costs alone. The operating costs annually, $4,650,000.00, making a total of capital and operating outlay of $6,886,- 000.00 per year for a twenty-year period . . . working. Mr. Speaker, merely on resent day costs. Now how much can be raised by the district of this province un er our present system of taxation? I am told that the total valuation of property in this province in the rural areas is $54,000,000.00, excluding Charlottetown and Summer- side. The revenue at the present rate — three twenty — bring in $1,728,000.00, and some of this goes to the maintenance of our Regional Schools which means that we have just a little over a million dollars to go towards the expenses of our consoli- dated schools. From the districts of the province we can raise roughly a million dol- lars per year. To carry out the expenses associated with a complete program of con- solidation we would need almost $7,000,000.00. The question then, Mr. Speaker, that I would raise is this: can we afford these schools? The second question: can we afford not to have these schools? I would like to answer the questions in this way: we cannot afford not to have these better school facilities for our young peo lo. I would qualify it by saying that at the same time as a government, and I won d say as a Legislature, we have to examine more closely the ways and means by which our educational program is going to be financed. I think we all would admit that the education of our children, and our children's children, is far above the petty politics that some times creeps into debate in this Legislature. There is absolutely no place for it here, when the education of the young people of this province is concerned. So I feel, Mr. Speaker, that we can’t afford not to go ahead with a program of con- solidation and concurrent with that we must examine carefully the methods by which the necessary dollars for education are raised. We had hoped that the Acres Re- search people would bring in something that would be helpful in this regard; we are still hopeful; we may, as time goes on, be losing a little it of our optimism, but

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