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Photos: Rally in Port Coquitlam to push for Hazel Trembath rebuild

Chanting “Rebuild Hazel Trembath,” advocates urged the province to make a plan to have the new structure up before fall 2025.
Janis Cleugh

In the final week of the academic year, about 100 parents and students at Port Coquitlam’s Hazel Trembath Elementary rallied at the site of the former school today, June 25, to call for action.

Chanting “Rebuild Hazel,” advocates urged the provincial government to make a plan — soon — to have the school up and running before September 2025 to replace the building that burned down last October.

The rally drew some big names: BC United leader Kevin Falcon addressed the media before the gathering while Peace River North MLA Dan Davies, the shadow minister for education, was also on scene to put pressure on Rachna Singh, B.C.’s minister of education and child care.

Davies told the Tri-City News he plans to write to Singh to show his solidarity with the school community.

Mayor Brad West, an alumnus and a parent of a student at Hazel Trembath, and councillors left their committee meeting early at city hall to attend the rally while Port Coquitlam Trustees Michael Thomas, chair of School District 43’s board of education, and Christine Pollock also spoke up about having the school continue in the same location.

Last week, Thomas said the board of education voted on its 2024–25 capital plan, making Hazel Trembath its number one priority. That direction, as well as other reports, will be forwarded to the ministry this week, he said.

West made it clear that city council would not be considering redeveloping the now-empty grounds for anything other than a school.

“It’s been eight months,” parent Kim O’Neill told the Tri-City News. “There’s been no action.”

Like others, O’Neill, who has a daughter in Grade 2 at Hazel Trembath, wore a T-shirt to draw attention to the school plight: Her blue shirt read “Hazel Strong;" others sported shirts with “Build Hazel Trembath” or held up signs.

“The area is growing,” O’Neill said. “We need this school back here. It’s a lot for 200 kids to be bused to and from Winslow Centre daily. Ideally, we would like to be back here in September, but we’re probably looking at September 2025 at the earliest.”

Parent and emcee Anand Kanna remembered how the Confederation Drive school was a hub for community and sports groups and how “the impact of this place cannot be measured enough."

“We are torn apart,” he said. “The anchor of our community is gone.”

He asked supporters to visit the website rebuildhazeltrembath.com to show their support for an onsite rebuild.

As for SD43, spokesperson Ken Hoff told the Tri-City News that it hasn’t received any updates from the ministry about its business plan to rebuild.

And the City of Port Coquitlam, which issued a demolition permit immediately after the fire with fees waived, also said it hasn’t received any more applications from SD43 "nor have we been informed of any potential timeline,” wrote Bruce Irvine, PoCo’s director of development services.

However, in an emailed statement, Singh wrote, “As a parent and Minister of Education and Child Care, I see every day how schools are the heart of their communities so I know that a structural loss like this one is not just a loss of a building, it’s a loss of a safe and supportive place that kids and their families rely on to help them learn and grow.”

She added, “Our government’s top priority is ensuring students in B.C. have the quality and supportive learning environments they deserve, and that includes in the neighbourhoods and communities close to home. As Minister Farnworth and Premier Eby have said, we want to assure families that we’re fully committed to rebuilding Hazel Trembath. We appreciate everyone’s patience while we work to rebuild this school for the Coquitlam school community and we will share more as the rebuild planning progresses with the district.”