Today, many of you will practice earthquake drills and roles as first responders. You have my thanks. The Great BC ShakeOut is a great way to learn to keep yourself safe and gain skills to aid others.

But I worry.

Drop, cover and hold is great but, as one parent recently pointed out, there won’t be anything to hold onto in our most at-risk schools. For almost half, construction on seismic upgrades has not even started. This is unacceptable.

Schools are where our kids learn and they deserve to be safe. Seismic upgrades are being treated like an education expense. They aren’t, these upgrades are a public safety issue.

A top fear for BC’s seismic experts is mass homelessness following an earthquake. Where will displaced people go if our schools are no longer standing?

We must get moving on schools’ seismic upgrades.