HALIFAX – Stephen McNeil’s Liberal Government has delivered an austerity budget that stands
to exacerbate serious structural problems with Nova Scotia’s post-secondary education system
and, moreover, to jeopardize the essentially public character of post-secondary education in the
province.
Dr. Marc Lamoureux, president of the Association of Nova Scotia University Teachers (ANSUT),
which represents over 1400 university teaching faculty and librarians in the province, said, “The
Liberal government has once again delivered a round of funding cuts presented to the public as a
substantial financial commitment to our universities. The government has locked in a 1% funding
increase for the next four years. As usual with austerity politics, the most vulnerable among us will
be affected the most: students, support staff, and contract teachers.”
Lamoureux continued: “The elimination of the $261 bursary for out-of-province students coupled
with the removal of tuition caps for out-of-province and graduate students, and the imposition of
‘market adjustments’ prior to applying the 3% cap, spells disaster for enrolment and, by
extension, the overall fate of post-secondary education in Nova Scotia. For a government that
claims to view universities as a major economic driver in the province, these are profoundly
strange decisions. Deregulating tuition fees? What is this government thinking?”
ANSUT is pleased to see that certain attempts to assist students have been maintained, such as
the 0% Student Loan Interest Programme and the Nova Scotia Bursary. It is also pleased to see
the government signal an interest in monitoring university finance, despite the fact that it
understands the goals of such oversight in vastly different terms than the faculty, students and
staff who called for it in last year’s “University Consultation” process.
All of these measures, however, are little more than triage when applied to a post-secondary
system whose fundamental structural problems have not yet begun to be seriously addressed in
the ongoing public conversation. ANSUT remains committed to defending Nova Scotia’s postsecondary education system against priorities and decisions that threaten its core pedagogical
and social mission.
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Contact: Matthew Furlong, Communications Officer
Tel: 902-414-8578
mfurlong@ansut.ca
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