News
Read the latest news in BC post-secondary education.
Dialogue with government: It’s time they listened more
Every year Presidents’ Council devotes a full day session to meeting with MLAs in Victoria. Our objective is to give both opposition and government MLAs a firsthand report on how our public post-secondary system is doing. Over the last eight years, it hasn’t always been easy meeting with government-side MLAs and Cabinet Ministers. Openness and…
2009 Budget update: credibility and funding suffer
“There’s nothing to cheer about in this update,” said George Davison, Secretary-Treasurer of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators. “Funding at our public institutions is not keeping pace with either demands in the community or the core inflation needs of our institutions,” Davison added. “Our organization released a poll last week that showed a majority…
2009 BC Budget backgrounder
The provincial government has tabled an update of its February 2009 budget. The revised budget highlights some remarkable changes in BC’s fiscal conditions. Prior to the February budget, the BC Liberals were optimistic that the province’s economy would side-step the effects of a global recession. Call it a convenient way to present a rosier picture…
Poll shows gap between public’s priorities and actions of Campbell government
Results of a mid-August poll by Ipsos Reid, done on behalf of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators, a number of public sector unions and the BC Federation of Labour, show strong support for budget measures that help BC families weather the current economic downturn. “This poll has got to be a wake-up call to Mr.…
New poll points to renewed investments in public services
Part Two As Finance Minister Colin Hansen prepares to table a revised provincial budget next week, he would do well to consider the results of a mid-August poll done by Ipsos Research. The poll canvassed the views of over 800 British Columbians during the week of August 8-12. It examined a range of fiscal and…
Funding problems overshadowed by deficit woes
Part One To hear Finance Minister Colin Hansen describe BC’s current fiscal situation you would think that he just discovered the word recession in his briefing notes. Somehow, despite almost a year of economic decline in every developed economy on the planet, Mr. Hansen had maintained that things in BC were different. Certainly our provincial…
Troubling news from Victoria
Several of our local faculty associations have received word that funding for Regional Literacy Coordinators is “under review” by the provincial government. This news comes on the heels of the July 9 update by the Minister of Finance, Colin Hansen showing a significantly revised budget picture from the one that the BC Liberals campaigned on…
Deciphering the latest cabinet shuffle
New mandates and new Members of the Legislative Assembly were obvious starting points for Premier Campbell as he announced the new line-up of Cabinet Ministers in Victoria. The challenge over the coming weeks will be for both the Premier and his new Cabinet to craft a legislative and fiscal agenda that addresses the urgent problems…
Unity a constant theme at 2009 AGM
For the 156 delegates at this year’s AGM, the theme of unity worked its way into much of the debate that took place over the four days of our annual AGM. Unity when it comes to bargaining in 2010. Unity when it comes to working with allies in the community. And unity when it comes…