Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC

Provincial cabinet shuffles don't rank as the most exciting news event. When it does become a news story, it's usually because someone gets dropped from Cabinet or downgraded to a second-string portfolio.

It's also rare for the Legislative Press Gallery to follow with any great interest some of the shuffling that takes place with ministerial assignments. Which crown corporations or authorities report to what minister is hardly the stuff that makes for good TV let alone the six o'clock news.

Since the middle of March, BC's public post-secondary education system has been buffeted by funding and policy changes that only add to a growing sense that the provincial government has no clear plan for post-secondary education. On March 12 came word from the Minister of Advanced Education that operating grants for post-secondary institutions would be cut by 2.6%. Several weeks later the government moved to create five new universities.

It’s hard to overstate the importance that FPSE places on the fight to win better protection for non-regular faculty. Often referred to as regularization, it’s an issue that plays out in every local across the province. It’s an issue that touches virtually every faculty member—most of us started our careers as non-regular faculty. It’s also an issue that addresses a very basic part of any instructor’s working career: knowing that their job comes with some measure of security.

February 2008 marks Carol Taylor's last budget as BC's Finance Minister. She will, no doubt, be remembered for many things - expensive shoes, fashionable eyewear - but her performance on February 19 will go down in the record books as another blinding display of political distraction. In both the budget look-up and in her speech in the Legislature she made much of the government's "green" budget.

Budget season is upon us and Finance Ministers at both the federal and provincial levels are looking at a wide range of program and funding options. If these Ministers did some careful analysis, they would find public dollars directed at programs that increase essential skills like literacy and English Language Training (ELT) have tremendous benefits not only for individuals, but also for the public treasury that fund these programs in the first place.

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.

When Geoff Plant was first appointed to conduct the Campus 2020 review of BC's post-secondary education system, caution flags were raised. Many wondered how the former BC Liberal Cabinet Minister could bring objectivity to such an important review. After all, this was the same Geoff Plant who sat at the provincial cabinet table when massive and profoundly regressive changes to BC's post-secondary education system were both conceived and approved.

After almost a year of review, Plant's final report was released.

The start of November marks an important date in all our calendars. It was six years ago this month that BC's lowest paid workers got a raise.

The start of November marks an important date in all our calendars. It was six years ago this month that BC's lowest paid workers got a raise. In the intervening six years inflation has jumped by a 13%, average weekly earnings have increased by 15%, and BC's economy has grown by over 20%. Despite that growth, BC's minimum wage has remained unchanged.

Throughout the week of October 22-26, post-secondary educators across Canada will be working to advance the cause of fair employment for non-regular faculty. The events of this week are part of a North American-wide effort by post-secondary educators to ensure that non-regular faculty have the same rights, benefits and protections as regular faculty members have.

Throughout the week of October 22-26, post-secondary educators across Canada will be working to advance the cause of fair employment for non-regular faculty.

When she presented her February 2006 provincial budget, Finance Minster Carole Taylor set aside $90 million for a proposed training tax credit program. Her idea was to provide employers with tax credit incentives that would hopefully increase the level of training across the province.

There is no question that BC needs to invest more in post-secondary education and training. Both the BC Business Council and the BC Chamber of Commerce have noted that BC already has a skills gap.