CCFA & BCGEU met with Minister Jessie Sunner & MLA Dana Lajeunesse (2nd and 3rd from left, respectively) on September 16th and spoke about how Post-secondary needs better funding!
What we wanted to talk about
Funding Stability is the Foundation of a Stable Post-Secondary System
- Chronic underfunding forces institutions to balance budgets on the backs of students (higher tuition, bigger classes) and faculty (workload intensification, more precarious contracts).
- Without addressing the funding gap, no government—whether local, multi-employer, or provincial—can deliver real stability and be poised for growth.
- The government’s investment in post-secondary is an investment in workforce development, regional economic health, and equity of access.
She told us she wasn’t there to talk about that with us.
What we ended up focusing on
Stronger Consultation and Partnership with Academic Workers
- Faculty and staff need a genuine seat at the table, not just when bargaining, but in shaping funding and policy frameworks that impact workload, program viability, and student learning conditions.
- Our BCGEU Faculty colleagues illustrated how disarticulating learning from a credential was detrimental to students’ being able to complete their apprenticeships.
- We highlighted how Microcredentials and other privatized funding models extract value from the public benefits that post-secondary education provides to our society.
- We suggested that by strengthening consultation, the Minister could help move the sector away from adversarial cycles and toward shared solutions that align funding, bargaining, and public policy.
But in the end, it all comes down to basic funding.
What we can do about it
Public funding for post-secondary education in BC has dropped from 68% in 2000, to just 40% today—that’s a 28% drop. Students a’re paying the price through increased tuition fees. We pay the price through increased workload and layoffs!
The cuts need to stop. It’s time for the BC government to step up, reinvest in our campuses, and properly fund post-secondary education. The BC Federation of Students (BCFS) and thousands of students across the province are standing up to say these cuts suck.
What can we do? We can join them! We have to be so loud they can’t ignore us. Email the Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills right now. Click on this link https://www.cutssuck.ca to join the campaign.
Lynelle Yutani (she/they)
ac.ytlucafnusomac@tnediserp
President, Camosun College Faculty Association
Lynelle is a queer, leftist rabble-rouser galvanized to guard the rights of union members and is on a crusade to convince you that you get out of your Union what you put into it. Lynelle serves on Presidents Council of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators (FPSE) and was elected to FPSE Executive as a Member-at-Large. She is on a number of FPSE affiliate committees, including the 2SLGBTQIA+ and Racialized Workers Caucuses for the BC Fed. Lynelle volunteers for a rooftop community garden, which partners with Harvest & Share Food Aid Society to grow fresh produce for local food banks and community food security programs.
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