News
Read the latest news in BC post-secondary education.
Highlights from FPSE’s 2016 AGM and Convention
Delegates to FPSE’s Annual General Meeting and Convention, held May 16-19, 2016, demonstrated their ongoing support for the Executive by acclaiming all four elected officers to their positions. Returning to their roles for another one-year term are President George Davison, Secretary-Treasurer Terri Van Steinburg, First Vice-President Frank Cosco, and Second Vice-President Leslie Molnar. Presidents’ Council…
Jobs Blueprint a bust, students lose out
Two years after the launch of the “Skills for Jobs Blueprint,” B.C.’s post-secondary educators don’t see much to celebrate. The Blueprint is about feeding Premier Clark’s fantasy fund. It was designed to support the 100,000 jobs we were told would manifest out of LNG. The jobs aren’t there. The LNG isn’t there. The dream was…
Statement on the National Day of Mourning, April 28
On April 28, the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC joins with unions around Canada to recognize the 25th anniversary of the National Day of Mourning. Each year on this date, we remember those workers who were killed or injured on the job. This is also a day to renew our commitment to fight for…
Adult basic education students face government claw back – FPSE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 7, 2016 VANCOUVER— Low-income British Columbians trying to upgrade their skills are now learning they face yet another roadblock, says the president of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators. At tax time, students are discovering the provincially administered Adult Upgrading Grant is considered taxable income, so some who qualified this year could…
Federal Budget 2016: Small steps forward for post-secondary education
Yesterday’s federal budget was a modest step in the right direction, a start to addressing some of the pressing problems after a decade of Harper’s Conservatives, but it falls short in some key areas. Here are some of the highlights – and lowlights – for post-secondary education and skills training: We join our allies in…
International Women’s Day 2016: Solidarity in the Struggle
International Women’s Day has been celebrated for over 100 years. With its roots in the early union movement, today is a time to reflect upon the history of women’s struggles for equality. International Women’s Day is a time to remember that all women, regardless of the monetary value assigned to women’s work (or lack thereof), make…
President's Comment on Budget 2016
In Vancouver, spring is in the air. We’re getting glimpses of cherry blossoms on trees and snow drops on the ground. In Victoria, spring means a new Throne Speech and provincial budget – and this picture is a little less rosy. In the Ministry of Advanced Education, the budget has brought yet another year of…
BC Budget fails students, communities – CFS-BC, FPSE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 16, 2016 VICTORIA— Another year, another missed opportunity to invest in post-secondary education and address growing problems with affordability. That’s the message from the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators and Canadian Federation of Students-BC, as the 2016 BC Budget delivers another year of flat funding to BC’s colleges and universities. “Once again,…
Post-secondary institutions need funding, and not just for targeted programs
PRESS RELEASE Post-secondary institutions need funding, and not just for targeted programs – FPSE February 3, 2016 Vancouver – Restricting new funding to only targeted post-secondary programs can undermine economic diversity and student success, warns the Federation of Post Secondary Educators. “We always welcome announcements of new funding for post-secondary education,” said George Davison, President…
Looking Back, Moving Forward
It’s a new year: a good time to reflect both on the year past and on our goals for the year to come. On the post-secondary front, 2015 was a year of ups and downs in BC. February saw a budget that failed to address the chronic underfunding in our public colleges and universities. This…