Post-secondary education

by Shifrah Gadamsetti, Executive Director of the Council of Alberta University Students. Originally published in the Fall 2018 issue of The Advocate.

Bill 19 took the words right out of our mouths. “An Act to Improve the Affordability and Accessibility of Post-Secondary Education” succinctly captures the foundational pillars of advocacy for the Council of Alberta University Students (CAUS).

The details of this bill have encouraged students across the province to take pause and consider both the incredulity of its contents, while also realizing that these steps need to be taken in order to achieve a post-secondary system that remains competitive and sustainable.

EDMONTON – The Minister of Advanced Education has tabled Bill 19: An Act to Improve the Affordability and Accessibility of Post-Secondary Education, which focuses on the affordability, accessibility, and quality of post-secondary education in institutions across Alberta. The legislation follows a tuition review launched nearly two years ago.

EDMONTON – Members of Public Interest Alberta’s Post-Secondary Education Task Force held a meeting with the Honourable Marlin Schmidt, Minister of Advanced Education, earlier today to discuss priorities for Alberta’s post-secondary education system.

Public Interest Alberta is pleased to release Priorities for Advancing the Public Interest.

The Alberta government has released its 2018 budget, which includes effective cuts to most areas of public services, as spending fails to keep pace with inflation and population growth.
 
“The piecemeal cuts to public services in the budget take Alberta in the wrong direction, but the striking thing is what is not in the budget,” said Joel French, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta. “Absent are many things Albertans need, like improved classroom conditions in schools and addressing the shortage of long-term care beds for seniors.”

EDMONTON - Public Interest Alberta is attending a Government of Alberta consultation regarding the 2018 provincial budget in order to encourage major changes in the province’s approach to revenue and spending.

"The Prentice government's pre-election budget would have resulted in larger class sizes, fewer students enrolling in post-secondary education, less capacity in our health care system, and seniors losing their drug benefits," said Joel French, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta."

"Every year for the past several years, the Alberta government’s budget documents have included a graph titled 'Alberta's Tax Advantage'. The graph shows how much revenue the government would raise if it had the same tax structure as each of Canada’s nine other provinces. The graph ought to be more appropriately titled 'Alberta’s Revenue Disadvantage.'"

In April 2015, Public Interest Alberta released a report entitled "A Just and Fair Alberta: Priorities for Change," which was designed to serve as a key resource for individuals and organizations in Alberta's 2015 provincial election.

EDMONTON—Public Interest Alberta is releasing A Fair and Just Alberta: Priorities for Change, designed to serve as a key resource for individuals and organizations in the coming provincial election.“The election presents a major opportunity for those who care about public services to make a difference in our province,” said Bill Moore-Kilgannon, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta. “It is important that we all take advantage of this chance to advocate effectively for much-needed revenue reform that will provide the foundation for much stronger public services, and to state clearly what should be the priorities for change.”