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Estabrooks Asks Who is Fighting For NS Students in Ottawa Tomorrow |
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Written by NDP News Release
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Thursday, 23 February 2006 |
NDP Education Critic Bill Estabrooks is calling on Premier-designate Rodney MacDonald to explain who will be looking out for Nova Scotia's interests at tomorrow's Council of the Federation's Post-Secondary Education and Skills Summit in Ottawa, given that both MacDonald and outgoing Premier Hamm will be in Halifax for the swearing-in of the new cabinet.
"We've been waiting a long time for all the Premiers to get together and discuss the importance of, and need for increased funding for, post-secondary education," says Estabrooks. "Unfortunately, Nova Scotia is unlikely to have political representation at that discussion table, since we will be going through the swearing-in of the new cabinet tomorrow."
The NDP MLA said he wonders just who will be at the negotiating table on Nova Scotia's behalf tomorrow, since it seems that all the elected Tories will be attending the swearing-in of the new cabinet. He noted that at least five other premiers will be in attendance: Jean Charest, Dalton McGuinty, Gary Doer, Bernard Lord and Danny Williams.
"It's fine to say we'll have senior civil servants at the meeting, but they should be there in any event. It's not their job to be the spokespeople for the government, it's the job of the elected politicians to advocate in this kind of forum, and I just hope Nova Scotia students aren't going to be the ones to lose out because of the
timing of the swearing-in."
Estabrooks notes that Nova Scotia, as a net importer of students, suffers a loss of at least $50 million a year from the current federal funding formula, which is based on provincial population, rather than on a per-student basis.
"Last year, the provincial Legislature unanimously adopted Darrell Dexter's resolution to have the funding formula changed to follow the students, rather than a pre-set population measure," says Estabrooks. "Prime Minister Martin wasn't very responsive to this request, however, so I hope that the new government in Ottawa intends to
take this situation more seriously." |
