On January 27, our Federation is hosting a forum on critical post-secondary education issues. The event will bring together labour leaders from BC's largest unions, representatives from Metro Vancouver's Chinese-speaking community, Lower Mainland MLAs, representatives from the Canadian Federation of Students as well as Presidents from our Lower Mainland locals.

The focal point of this forum is a presentation by Scott Murray, a post-secondary education policy analyst who has done extensive research on the importance of post-secondary education in not only building a modern economy, but also contributing to social cohesion and participation. Murray's research shows that without a substantial commitment by governments, both federal and provincial, to better funding of the public post-secondary system, our provincial and national economies will suffer in the long run.

This is not the first time Mr. Murray has made this presentation. In the late fall of 2007 he made a similar presentation to the Minister of Advanced Education, Murray Coell, and his Ministerial Advisory Committee. Unfortunately, without concerted effort, Mr. Murray's research will remain behind closed doors, a situation that needs to be reversed.

That's one of the reasons why FPSE has taken the initiative to expand the network of community leaders who hear what Mr. Murray has to say. If the public post-secondary education system is going to reach its full potential, we need to include as many supporters as possible in our efforts to press governments for the investments needed to reach that potential. We also need to do a much better job of working with important community organizations who share our concern about the need to strengthen the range of programs and access within the post-secondary education system.

The forum also comes at a time when the federal and provincial governments are poised to renew their federal-provincial Labour Market Agreement. This agreement maps out the funding support that Ottawa provides for a broad range of labour market programs including adult literacy, English Language Training (ELT) and essential skills development. The renewal of that agreement needs to be widely discussed before the final terms are agreed to and our hope is this forum will be the first step in expanding that public debate and ensuring the best outcome for BC and for post-secondary education.