PC 033 003_26

[Transcript] The Province Tuesday, March 21, 1989

Natives lose college try
News Services

OTTAWA - The federal Indian Affairs Department yesterday slammed the door on the idea that natives have the right to a free college or university education.

Announcing an overhaul of its $130-million post-secondary assistance program, the department said a free ride isn't part of natives' treaty rights.

Indian Affairs Minister Pierre Cadieux rejected a request by natives to postpone funding changes, saying: "For the government, the position is crystal clear - treaty references to education do not include post-secondary education."

Cadieux said the government recognizes that Indians need financial help to attend university and will continue funding at its current level.


Let's have a hand for positive attitudes

The provincial government's extra commitment to post-secondary education is surely commendable when one considers that some 15,000 additional spaces and some $150 million more dollars (not to mention the UBC fund-raising matching commitment of $66 million) have been committed in recent weeks.

The record of succeeding Social Credit governments in the field of post-secondary education is a proud one.

Those governments built two of three universities and 17 of the 19 colleges and institutes. The college system initiated by the Social Credit governments was so good, in fact, that the one-term NDP government adopted it.

The post-secondary system is far from Crawford Kilian's "squalid slums," either physically or intellectually, ("Education's 'squalid slums' left behind," March 22).

Let us commend those who contribute significantly to our fine education system - the students and the teachers. Positive results are achieved by those with a positive attitude. These are the people who willingly work at and solve problems. I have yet to see anything that was built by a complainer.

RUSSEL G. FRASER

MLA, Vancouver South