12UNBC

In Conversation

With...

Monique Gendron
Team Member

his last week, UNBC named the

Honorable James Moore, former Member
of Parliament and Cabinet Minister as the
institution’s next Chancellor. Over The Edge
caught up with Mr. Moore and talked to him
about his appointment and what he hopes to
achieve during his term.

Moore is the first UNBC alumnus to be
named Chancellor, and he is excited for the
opportunity: “It’s a tremendous honour. I
mean, UNBC is a phenomenal institution
that was transformative in my personal
development. I had an amazing academic
experience there that opened my eyes

to a big part of the province that before
being a student there, I had never been
exposed to. The professors that I met
exposed me to literature and concepts I
had not been previously exposed to and it
was a phenomenal academic experience.

“Plus, the community of Prince George

was great to me, I got to work at CKPG

and got to do some work at PGTV and met
some lifelong friends there. What I hope

to be able to offer the university is to be

an advocate for the school in this other
parts of the province, where fewer students
look north and decide to go to UNBC.”

Moore does not currently live in Prince
George; he lives in Port Moody, part of

the federal riding that he represented in
the House of Commons. However, Moore
does not see his distance from UNBC as an
impediment to his duties: “As a Member of
Parliament that represented a riding for
fifteen years and five terms, I was to and
from Ottawa all the time while maintaining
contact at home. It’s a short flight to Prince
George, and I’m happy to come there,

to be available to faculty, students, staff,
anyone who would like to talk to me.”

Moore says that he will be in attendance
for convocations at the main and regional
campuses and activities beyond Convocation,

like board meetings, student recruitment,
and fundraising, whether they are at
one of the campuses or down South.

The new Chancellor will perform many
duties, but Moore describes his main goal

as raising UNBC’s profile, especially in the
South of the province: “When I finished high
school back in 1994, there were only a few
options for people going into post-secondary
education, SFU, UBC, maybe UVIC. If you
didn’t go there, maybe you went to one of
the colleges. But then UNBC came along, this
brand new university with lots of energy, it
was opened by Her Majesty the Queen, and

a lot of people looked North to go to school.

“In the intervening time, there were a lot of
institutions that became degree-granting
institutions, like Emily Carr, the University
College of the Fraser Valley, and others,

and so a lot of people didn’t look North to
Prince George as a place to go to school. I'd
like to revitalize the presence of UNBC in
other parts of the province. There’s a great
retention of high school quality students

in Northern BC, who go to UNBC for their
post-secondary education, but not enough
people from the Lower Mainland have UNBC
on their radar and I think it’s a real shame.
Half the education I find that you get from
being in post-secondary education happens
in the classroom, the other half comes from
learning about yourself, meeting new friends,
learning about other cultures in other

parts of the world, country, or province. I
think that story needs to be better told.”

There has been a vocal objection to Moore’s
appointment, with nearly 600 people
signing an online petition calling for the
cancellation of his appointment. The
opposition to Moore’s appointment seems
to be based on his tenure in government

as a member of the Conservative Party,
which many say muzzled and restricted
science and scientists while in power, and a

Cabinet Minister, where as the Minister for
Canadian Heritage, Moore cut funding toa
public institution, the CBC. Moore disagrees,
saying that he is pro-science: “I don’t agree
with the premise [of the arguments against
his appointment]. I was a proud student

of the school, I’m a proud graduate of the
school, the school named me Alumni of
the Year twice, and I’ve always been an
advocate of post-secondary education

and of course of scientific discovery.

“As a member of the Federal Cabinet, I
created the 1.5 billion dollar Canada First
Research Fund, 1.5 billion dollars for
research arms-length from government,
independent from any political decisions
that will be governed by universities

for scientific discoveries. I led the fight

to secure funding for the Thirty Meter
Telescope and to ensure that our footprint
and our incredible legacy of scientific
discovery in space will be continued for
well over another decade. I believe in
science, I believe in government funding for
science, and I believe in the independence
of scientific research and discovery.”

As a former politician, Moore will certainly
face resistance from individuals of differing
political beliefs, but Moore says that like
many of his colleagues, of whom many have
gone on to leadership positions at post-
secondary institutions, his worthiness will
be proven over time: “Whenever somebody
comes from the political world, it crosses
over. There are going to be people who
have their doubts, or their suspicions or
what have you. That was seen in the past
when Andrew Petter, who was a former
NDP cabinet minister became President

of SFU, there were some doubters, but in
the fullness of time, he proved himself to
be a fine leader of a great school. When

my former colleague, former Conservative
Senator Hugh Segal went on to a leadership
position at a university, there were doubters

UNBC Saat

Chancellor

there, but he proved himself to be worthy
of the position and he carried himself ina
way that was appropriate. It’s the same with
Stephen Owen, who was a Liberal Member
of Parliament that became Vice-President
at UBC that had some doubters, but proved
himself to be compatible with the role.

“T understand that there are people who
have questions about the past, but this is
about, in my view, the next 25 years of the
school. It’s about having the first graduate
of the school to be Chair of the Board of
Directors, the first graduate of the school to
be Chancellor, talking about building on the
great success and reputation we've built so
far and maybe there will be people who will
never have confidence in me until they meet
me or get to know me a little bit better and
work with me on the future of UNBC. This is
not about the last election, this is about the
next generation of leadership at UNBC.”

There will be students who do not know
Moore from his time in public office, and
we asked him how he would describe James
Moore, the person. He responded: “I’m a
pretty easy-going person, even-tempered,
I’m not one who rushes judgments. I’m
pretty mild-mannered... I think. We all have
our moments that we regret. I’m a dad,

I’m a husband, and I’m looking forward to
making a contribution to the school. It’s a
genuine honour [to be named Chancellor]
and I’m looking forward to moving forward.”

For students who want to meet their next
Chancellor, they will have to wait, but not
long. Even though Moore will not be officially
appointed until May’s Convocation, he says
he will be visiting UNBC before Christmas.
Moore mentioned that he has already
reached out to certain members of the

UNBC community. It remains to be seen if
the controversy over his appointment will
dissipate quickly, or if the dissent will linger.