If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again?
That seems to be the take executives at Wilfrid Laurier University are taking when it comes to expanding their footprint to the edge of the Niagara Escarpment.
The school was dealt a blow this week when the Ministry of Colleges, Universities and Training approved a new post-secondary campus for Markham.
The joint venture between York University and Seneca College beat out 18 other proposals, including the University of Ottawa’s attempt to establish a French-language campus in Woodstock and Laurier’s plan for a sustainability-and-liberal-arts-focused school in Milton.
“Not only was I disappointed, I was very disappointed,” Milton Mayor Gord Krantz told CTV News.
The Town of Milton had gifted Laurier $50 million worth of land for a new campus, conditional on provincial approval.
Still, school administrators say they’re not giving up the fight just yet.
Next year, the province plans to issue a second call for proposals for a new campus – one focused specifically on the Halton and Peel regions, including Milton.
“We look forward to working with the town to put together another submission for that process,” said Brian Rosborough, Laurier’s senior executive officer.
“It ain’t over until it’s over, and it’s far from being over,” said Krantz.
