A scholarship program with the potential to help dozens of School District 43 students get post-secondary education in engineering, trades, marine sciences and environmental studies is being lauded by the chair of the board of education.
But Judy Shirra, who is also a Port Coquitlam trustee, says she wishes the scholarships, announced by Kinder Morgan Canada this week, weren't tied to federal approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
Shirra was responding to news that the petroleum pipeline company had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Coquitlam Foundation that would see a $300,000 contribution over 20 years toward annual awards for eligible secondary students in School District 43.
The awards would be for studies at BCIT, Douglas College, the Justice Institute and another recognized post-secondary institute, and is a community benefit for cities, like Coquitlam, that would be affected by pipeline construction.
But the SD43 board chair said she's disappointed pipeline approval is required before the fund is initiated because post-secondary education is expensive and families are struggling to pay.
"Anybody that's contributing to the children's education it's wonderful," Shirra told The Tri-City News. "It would be nice if it was without strings. If it doesn't get approved and the money's not there, it's not a scholarship, is it?"
Shirra said if the scholarship money does became available, the school district wouldn't turn it down because it's in the best interests of students and the scholarships would be for programs such as environmental sciences and engineering, which are in high demand.
A spokesperson for Trans Mountain said the funds are to compensate Coquitlam for disruption during pipeline construction if it is to go ahead.
"What we've done is while we recognize we've got a large-scale project going through communities, we recognize there's going to be disruption, we are keeping that to a minimum as much as we can, we are going to restore to the state they were in or better," said Lizette Parsons Bell, noting there could be disruption such as traffic in the city along the proposed pipeline route.
She pointed out that the city of Coquitlam has also signed a memorandum of understanding for its community benefit — a million-dollar upgrade to Mackin Park that is also based on the pipeline being approved.
She said the company is announcing community benefit agreements before approval — the federal government has to make a decision before Dec. 19 — to show that the company is giving back, and it also has a foundation that provides grants to organizations benefitting youth in Grades 8 to 12 that is not tied to the pipeline approval.
If the pipeline is approved and the agreements are pursued, the Coquitlam Foundation would oversee the fund for the eight Trans Mountain Pipeline Awards for SD43 students. Janet Toddington, who chairs the foundation board, said the memorandum was voted on by the board and is not an endorsement of the pipeline project.
"We are not supporting or opposing the project. But we feel that if there's a benefit to the community, we will accept that endowment from that organization," Toddington said.
If approved, the $6.8-billion pipeline expansion would triple the capacity of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline, which carries diluted bitumen from oil sands near Edmonton to Burnaby for export, requiring a seven-fold increase in tanker traffic in Burrard Inlet.
