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ditorial/ Opinion

Over The Edge Page 5

Here is a Wake-Up Call for All Students:
Your Government is Not Listening!

By Veronica Murphy, CNC
Student

Among the many cuts
announced by the Campbell
government on Black
Thursday, the Liberals chose
to begin hacking away at
post-secondary education by
eliminating the Student
Summer Works Program, the
Youth Community Action
Program, the Workstudy
Programs, and the Industry
Training and Apprenticeship
Commission (ITAC).

The government is also
reorganizing the Ministry of
Advanced Education in such
a way that private colleges
and_ universities will be
allowed to be built, and be
given the ability to grant
degrees without any assur-

ance such a way that private
colleges and universities will
be allowed to be built, and be
given the ability to grant
degrees without any assur-
ance that the education and
course standards that we cur-
rently benefit from under the
public system will be properly
met.

At private institutions, stu-
dents will also not have any
students’ unions to speak on
their behalf, nor will there be
Boards of Governor’s or
Education Councils/Senates
to ensure that the institution
has proper educational goals.

Student Financial
Assistance was also hit hard
with one-third of it’s staff cut.
This means that students will
have to wait even longer for

How Muc

By Colleen O’Grady

Thursday January 17, 2002
was known as_ Black
Thursday because of the lay-
offs to the service sector. of
the government. Over
11,000 people will get the axe
over the next 3 years. Most
of the people will be in the
ministry of Children and
Families, Ministry of
Highways, and the Ministry of
Forests. Economically it will
save the liberals “Millions”,
but what will be the social
costs?

Perhaps some of the min-
istries did have too many
people. | would disagree and
agree with both. The system
as it is, the liberals would
argue, is too restrictive. It
can be a headache if you are
a resources manager going
to different agencies and
playing “mother may |” with
multiple agencies for
approval of different pro-
posed actions.

Sometimes the restrictions
didn’t make much sense eco-
logically but they were the

only policy that covered the
whole province. It can be a
waiting game if you are a
mine and want to start mining
in BC. You have to wait
about 2 years under the cur-
rent system and you have to
consult the stakeholders.
Social concerns were put to
the forefront at least in inten-
tion.

The alternative would be to
take the government out of
business. The problem with
this is who looks out for social
costs? How much is a forest,
a caribou or a child’s health
worth to you? And are you
going to trust business to look
after these interests? The
question of value comes into
play and what kind of value
can be added to the
province’s coffers?

After this firing, the media
has been pointing out that
Alberta has laid off more than
10,000 and Ontario has laid
off almost 20,000 people
from their civil service. These
are two of the richest
provinces; and one of the dif-

their student loans and grants
requests to be processed. It
is about time that students
start to participate in the poli-
tics of post-secondary educa-
tion. | invite every student to
wake up and smell the coffee,
and check out what the gov-
ernment is really brewing up
for us.

Are we going to lie down in
our comfortable beds and let
the government spend every
waking hour trying to deny us
the right to an accessible
post-secondary education?
Are we going to let an
increase of 30% in tuition
fees just happen?

| hear it all the time—‘oh, it
doesn’t affect me, | finish next
year anyway”, “the govern-
ment can’t afford it’, “we have

ferences was when they cut
their civil service they were
not in a recession.

With the release of the
results from the Walkerton
inquiry, some estimates of the
liability costs to the province
of Ontario in possible settle-
ments may be more than
Harris saved by firing all his
civil servants. Now some
residents are suffering per-
manent effects from e-coli
contamination. Can you put
a price on what they would
have made as professionals
or even athletes? Not to
mention the cost of them
being a burden on the health
care system. All it would
have taken was one govern-
ment inspection officer.

Alberta has been lucky,
but for how long? How many
Weebo Ludwigs will it take
to make the Government
accountable to the environ-
ment and people’s health?

Walkerton could happen
in BC. In BC it may not be
the water, but what about
the ministry of transport?

low tuition fees in BC any-
way,” blah blah blah, and
blah. Against the facts of the
situation, these are some of
the weakest arguments that a
human being could make. At
the very least, make sure that
you are informed about the
issues, and stop coasting on
hearsay.

| invite every student to par-
ticipate in the February 6 Day
of Action. It is a national day
of action called for by the
Canadian Federation of
Students, to demand that
governments across Canada
take steps to make post-sec-
ondary education truly acces-
sible, and in BC specifically to
call on the Campbell govern-
ment to at the very least
maintain and fully fund the

How many overweight or
unsafe commercial vehicles
will cause fatalities on steep
winding BC highways? How
many kids will have to be sex-
ually abused before they hire
back more social workers?
Will it take a politician’s own

tuition fee freeze, or build on
last year’s 5% tuition fee
reduction and reduce fees
further.

It’s going to be big and it’s
going to send a clear mes-
sage to government that stu-
dents, and the public, want
increased funding and atten-
tion for post-secondary edu-
cation. -

| urge you to contact your
Students’ Association and
learn more about February
6th events happening near
you. | also invite you to attend
the CNC Students’
Association Information Fair
from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
in the CNC Atrium. As much
as the Liberals would hate to
see it, we might actually learn
something.

h is BC Worth?

family to be affected before
the Government will consider
anything other than economic
ends? It seems to me that
the province is rolling the
dice.

Promoting the Rights of Students
with Psychiatric Disabilities

Students experiencing mental health
problems are no longer ‘hiding in the closet’!
We are speaking up. We have the right to
support and accommodations. Visit the
Canadian Mental Health Association, Higher
Education web site to learn more about rights

and support.

- Discover our online interactive features.

- Find financial aid information.

- Discuss topics important to you.

- Connect with people from across Canada
and around the world.

www.cmha.ca/english/ highered

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