10

The Cadre

, 10 March 1998

Business leaders to head millenniumfund

BY DAVID COCHRANE

OTTAWA (CUP) — The appointment of a promi- nent businessman to head the board of directors of the Ca- nadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation has student groups

worried about the direction of

Ottawa’s $2.5-billion scholar- ship fund.

Y ves Landry, chairman and CEO of Chrysler Canada, was appointed to head the foun- dation by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien on February 24. Landry, at times an outspoken critic of Canada’s post-sec- ondary education system, has called for a “revolution” in higher education to better pre- pare students for the job mar- ket.

Landry, who is amem- ber of a number of organiza- tions intent on building closer ties between corporations and higher education, has warned that certain areas, such as the auto industry, face a serious shortage of skilled workers that could limit growth. He has also criticized governments for not pumping more money into pro- grams with high-demand in the job market.

Despite those com- ments, Landry says he is bring- ing an open mind to his role as chair of the foundation and won't pursue a particular agenda.

“I’m only one member of the board and my job is to be a facilitator,” Landry told the Toronto Star recently. “I’m not going to make policy right now.”

But whilethe prime min- ister is hailing Landry as a great friend of education, stu- dent groups are questioning the appointment of a wealthy business leader to head up a fund for needy students.

“It begs the question: What does this person know about student poverty and stu- dent debt?” Brad Lavigne, national chair of the Canadian Federation of Students, said.

The foundation will start operating in 2000 and run dry

in just 10 years. It will spend about $325-million on annual scholarships for 100,000 stu- dents. The scholarships will be worth as much as $3,000 per student annually.

Right now, the govern- ment says the scholarships will be awarded to students on the basis of financial need and academic merit. The federa- tion and most education groups have advocated that scholar- ships be awarded solely to low- and moderate- income stu- dents. But Lavigne says Lan- dry’s strong business ties makes that unlikely.

“It doesn’t offer much hope that an individual suchas Mr. Landry will be sympa- thetic to the overwhelming need for the needs-based cri- teria to be the dominant crite- ria,” Lavigne said.

The foundation will be

run by a 15-member board of

directors made up of private citizens. Itwill include one stu- dent.

The federation and the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations both say more students should be on the board. Lavigne says he wants to see a crosé-section of graduate, undergraduate, and full- and part-time students selected by federation membership.

Hoops Harrison, na- tional director of the associa- tion, says he doesn’t want to “quibble”

with the federation over which students sit on the board. If the number of student seats isn’t increased, Harrison says it should be filled by an “aver- age” student who isn’t an ac- tive member of either national student group.

“I want a person that’s mixing their macaroni and tuna for dinner and have no idea what kind of job they will get after university,” Harrison said.

Landry’s appointment and the lone student-desig- nated seat has both student groups worried the founda- tion’s board of directors could

become dominated by business interests.

“We won't stand for that,” Harrison said. “We would tell the government that that would not be an appropri- ate committee for the millen- nium fund.”

Harrison says the board should be filled primarily by

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members of the education community, including across- section of students, professors, administrators and financial aid officers.

Lavigne suggests a simi- lar structure, though with more emphasis on students and less involvement by business com- munity, particularly atthe helm.

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“Putting someone from corporate Canada in charge of {the millennium fund] would not be an option [for us],” Lavigne said.

The government says it will finalize the fund’s scholar- ship criteria and the structure of its board of directors over the next two years.

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