The Cadre

November 18,1997

UPEI marches on Province House

By Peter Gillis

On Wednesday, Novem- ber 12, UPEI students marked the opening of the fall legisla- ture with a march on Province House. Over fifty students braved cold winds to protest the provincial governments cuts to higher education.

"The purpose of today’s march is basically to get a committment from our provin- cial government in regards to funding for our university," explained UPEI Student Un- ion President Janice Broderick. "I think it is almost a safety feature that we need to be down there today on the open- ing and tell them we’re still here -- we’re still going to school.”

The rally started early in the morning when members of the Student Union handed out coffee to students in line for pre-registration. The coffee- break was designed to increase awareness of the march at a time when many students were feeling some direct effects of current fiscal policies. Pre- registration is often a long and cold experience for students —— enter necessary or popular courses that have been reduced due to administrative cutbacks.

The provincial — ment is currently in first year of a three-year plan tocut

funding to UPEI. This year had a six percent reduction in funding. Next year will see a further four percent reduction, and the third year a possible stop incuts. The government's fiscal policies have already led to a $230 increase in tuition.

“In my opinion there is no current policy for higher education with this provincial government. They don’tseem tothink ouruniversity is impor- tant,” stated Stephen Ramsay, UPEI SU Vice President Fi- nance.

At 12:30pm, 50 students gathered at the gazebo to start the march. Joining them were Herb Dickieson, PEI’s lone MLA from the New Demo- cratic Pary, and Leo Broderick, NDP candidate.

Working their way down University Avenue, students chanted slogans like “Educa- tion is falling down” and “Stop the cuts”. Many ys in cars honked their horns to sup- port UPEI’s protest. As they continued, the group picked up more people, including some members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Students arrived at Prov- ince House around 1:15pm. There, they listened to speeches from the student union president, the Minister of Education, and other politi- cians. The protest even at- tracted Premier Binns, who gave a surprise talk before entering the House. Media coverage was high for the event, and student enthusiasm

more than made up for the small numbers.

Some students were up- set with the lack of attend- ance. It was felt that the weather and pre-registration affected the turn-out. Others talked of student apathy. One student explained, “Ifno one is going to show up, then they

don’t have the right to com- plain about tuition going up.” Members of Council, though, felt that the march was a first step in combating cur- rent student attitudes. “I think it’s going to solve awareness. What we intend to say is ‘Look at all the students who are here today. We are all voters.

We’re concerned and that should make you, the politi- cians, concerned’.”

Asecond march on Prov- ince House is planned for late January. It will be organized by PEI chapter members of the Canadian Federation of Students.