In 2019 students attending post-secondary in Manitoba will pay more in tuition then any year before. Over the past few years since the 2016 Provincial election, students have seen consistent cuts and defunding to vital programs and services attributed to the choices made by this provincial government. Investing in post-secondary education should be a priority for Manitoba.
Education
First published in the Winnipeg Free Press August 12, 2019
The recent decision to end the tenure of Paul Vogt as President and CEO of Red River College (RRC) has been met with widespread condemnation from some surprising sources.
The consultant hired by the provincial government to review the governance, programming and finances of Manitoba colleges responded to the news of Mr. Vogt’s departure by calling it “the worst personnel decision at a Canadian college, maybe ever.”
Canada is addicted to oil. Like all addictions, ours is debilitating. It has erased the line between state and private industry (thin as that line is in most countries), stifles our politics, and is holding back local, provincial and national preparations for a world without fossil fuels. Curing our addiction to oil and gas will take time and money, and historic levels of Indigenous–federal–provincial co-operation. But it absolutely has to happen—starting now.
Notwithstanding discussions and concerns about recent provincial Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) test scores, or the importance of always looking for improvement, Manitoba has a high quality public school system that is the envy of most other jurisdictions around the world.
First published by CBC online May 11, 2019
Getting ahead is becoming virtually impossible for people in severe financial need who want to go back to school and turn their life around. Last year the Manitoba government terminated 210 Provincial Access Bursaries valued at $1.5 million dollars. Access students who need financial support the most to finish up their degrees are now not receiving it. In addition, the Access program was cut by an additional $1 million.
First published in the Winnipeg Free Press May 7, 2019
In January, Manitoba’s education minister Kelvin Goertzen announced the creation of a commission to review the provincial school system and propose a ‘“renewed vision for kindergarten to Grade 12 education," to "ignite change" to existing systems, structures and programs’.
The impetus appears to be concern that the province’s students were “falling behind those in the rest of the country,” particularly in math, science and literacy. And so, according to the minister: “Nothing is off the table.”
Illustration by Jessica Fortner
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Google (Alphabet), Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon. They are among the world's most valuable and most trusted companies, but increasingly the most scrutinized for their data-hoarding practices, monopolist tendencies, poor treatment of workers and willingness to bend or even break privacy laws in the pursuit of growth. More data gives these and other tech firms a more accurate picture of individual tastes and broader societal trends.
First published in the Winnipeg Free Press Thursday April 4, 2019
School trustees are consulting with parents and stakeholders for this upcoming year’s school budgets while they seem to be under attack by the provincial government. Education Minister Goertzen had a heated exchange with Winnipeg school trustees on twitter earlier this month regarding education funding and taxes.