by Patty Pitts
B.C.'s Skills, Training and Labour Minister Dan Miller and Liberal education critic Wilf Hurd battled for the hearts and minds of about 150 UVic students attending a debate on the future of post-secondary education in the all-purpose room of the Student Union Building on Feb. 9. Yet, neither emerged a clear winner.
In what might be considered a review of the upcoming provincial election campaign, both claimed their parties regard post-secondary education as a top priority. Hurd went so far as to say a Liberal government would not extend its proposed deep spending cuts to universities and colleges. But when pressed by students to provide more details about how they plan to meet their education needs in the future, both Hurd and Miller gave lengthy partisan statements.
Miller downplayed his government's request for universities to prepare budgets reflecting three, five and ten per cent cuts and, instead, emphasized the accomplishments his government had achieved since assuming power in 1991.
³We inherited a waiting list of 20,000 students,² Miller told the crowd. ³This year no waiting list materialized. We opened up the first new university [the University of Northern B. C.] in Canada in 35 years. We've experienced a 25 per cent increase in graduate enrolment.²
Miller criticized Liberal leader Gordon Campbell for saying the federal government, which has slashed the transfer payments to provinces that pay for universities, didn't go far enough in its cuts.
³We need skilled people, educated people. The Campbell recipe is a recipe for disaster.²
Hurd responded by saying reductions in government spending don't have to come at the expense of health and education spending. He criticized costly NDP government labour policies negotiated on behalf of union workers employed on government construction projects and the province's health care workers.
Miller asked Hurd how ³taking money out of the pockets of construction workers who want to send their children to university² helps other taxpayers.
Hurd challenged Miller to end ³patronage appointments² to university and college boards. Miller replied that the boards ³represent the fibre and makeup of this province² and include members from the corporate community as well as labour leaders. He accused the Liberals of having no policy on post-secondary education.
³You don't want to participate in a race to the bottom,² Miller told his audience. ³Ask for their policy on paper. What are they really proposing to do? You can't afford to start walking backwards in B.C. now.²
When asked later by UVic student Steve Wilson if either party had a policy paper for post-graduate studies, Miller said he was interested in pursuing the issue ³in a more focused way² and laid out the party's plans for a new technical university that will be like ³a mini MIT or Cal Tech.² Hurd said his party would have a detailed policy before the next election.
Another student suggested that although waiting lists have been eliminated, the quality of education being offered those students is being eroded.
³I'm prepared to stack up our system against any in the rest of the country,² replied Miller. ³All programs are going through a process of change. I don't think things are as bad as you claim.²
Acting in the role of moderator, UVic President Dr. David Strong, summed up the debate by saying, ³Both [parties] have assured us post-secondary funding shall be protected. Mr. Miller says the province can afford it and Mr. Hurd says if the province can't afford it, the appropriate cuts will be made [elsewhere].²
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