“Investing in education, whether it’s in services or in beautifying our schools, is the best investment we can make for the future of our nation.”

So Quebec Premier François Legault once said.

It was the optimistic early years of his first mandate and he was unveiling a plan to standardize the design for the construction of new schools. He promised they would henceforth include Quebec-produced wood and aluminum, highlight the colour blue (in a nod to the province’s nationalist heritage) and feature comfortable common spaces, vegetation walls and banks of windows to let the natural light in.

Ensuring Quebec schoolchildren learn in an optimal environment was a laudable goal for a government that intended to make education a top priority. But it’s proved easier said than done.

Fast forward five years and there are many parts of Montreal that would be happy just to have any school, let alone one boasting inspirational architecture.

Despite the Legault government setting aside $23 billion over 10 years since 2018 to build, renovate and maintain school infrastructure, numerous vacant lots are still waiting for shovels to hit the ground, plans to renovate crumbling heritage buildings are being abandoned, and thousands of students are being bussed well beyond their local neighbourhood for lack of classrooms nearby.

Too many of these lamentable situations are in Montreal.

A new elementary school in the Triangle district of........

© Montreal Gazette