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Students speak out against cuts to Douglas College basic literacy courses

College says decision
partly due to literacy
students not becoming
paying, credit students

Patrick
oe Vaillancourt
+ News Editor
Ris, news@ theotherpress.ca

tudents participating in

Douglas College literacy
skills courses are crying foul
over proposed cuts to daytime
classes that they have come to
rely on to learn critical life skills.

The 100-level classes, which
fall under Douglas College’s
English Upgrading portfolio
of courses within the Faculty
of Language, Literature, and
Performing Arts, are attended
by dozens of students who have
difficulty with basic reading and
writing. The cuts are targeted
toward daytime classes and
would affect about 12 students.
The cuts to the 100-level

classes come after a review of
Douglas College’s finances,
where they discovered that
the basic literacy classes
were over-producing against
the funding they were
receiving from the Ministry of
Advanced Education. College
administration chose to cut 10.5
per cent from the Adult Basic
Education (ABE) courses offered
tuition-free—in accordance

with a decision made by the BC
government in 2007 through the
Adult Opportunities Action Plan
that these literacy classes should
be offered to the community free
of charge.

Meg Stainsby, the dean
of language, literature, and
performing arts, said in an
interview with The Tyee earlier
this year that the cuts were
made in part because less than
one out of five students in the
100-level courses will progress
to post-secondary courses.

“Because the mandate of
the college is largely focussed
on post-secondary education,
and because these are expensive
courses to deliver and duplicate
services that are available
elsewhere,” said Stainsby to
The Tyee’s Katie Hyslop in
March, “it felt like a very fiscally
responsible way to continue
to serve the population that is
more in line with the mandate of
the college.”

While literacy programs
are available throughout the
Lower Mainland, spaces are far
and few. Many of the spaces
in literacy programs offered at
the school board-level are taken
up by international students,
who are literate in their native
language but do not know how
to read or write in English.
Many of the students taking the
100-level courses at Douglas
College were referred there by
other community organizations.

Students in the daytime
class are speaking out, saying
that the literacy skills they learn
enhance their quality of life
and allow them to live more
independently.

Bob McDonald, student,
said that the class at Douglas
College has enabled him to
live with some measure of
independence. “I have good
support from my family,” said
McDonald, “but I also don’t
want to depend on them for
everything.”

Some of the students in
the daytime class are unable to
attend the evening class, either
due to other responsibilities
or because of mobility issues.

A number of students rely on
HandyDART to get to and from
class. Other students are only
able to attend classes while their
children are in school.

Another student, simply
identified as Blessing, was
clearly heartbroken when
speaking to the Other Press
about the proposed cutting
of her class. “I never had the
chance to go to school—this
class is my life right now,” said
Blessing. She added that she was
unable to fill out basic medical
forms at a clinic, and would
make up excuses like forgetting
her reading glasses in order to
get assistance.

All of the students in the
100-level courses are given
additional support by tutors

provided by I-CARE, Douglas
College’s literacy tutoring
program.

Some of the students,
supported by their tutors, have
formed a committee and are
preparing a presentation for
the Douglas College board to
plead their case. The board has
yet to confirm whether they will
get a chance to present their
case at the next board meeting,
scheduled for November 21 at

 

Photo courtesy of Huffington Post

the David Lam campus.

“We are fighting to get our
lives back,” said Blessing.

The decision to cut the
daytime class was made by
the Douglas College senior
management team earlier
this year. The college board
has the power to review the
decision and direct the senior
management team to revisit the
issue.

 

Embattled Toronto mayor reveals crack cocaine use

Footage of enraged Rob
Ford released one day
after stunning admission

Patrick
ps Vaillancourt
+ News Editor
es, news@ theotherpress.ca

he mayor of Canada’s

largest city continues to be
embroiled in controversy as
questions about his judgment
begin to raise eyebrows—not
only in this country, but around
the world.

Last week, Toronto Mayor
Rob Ford shocked Toronto City
Hall reporters as he admitted
to having used crack cocaine
“probably approximately about
a year ago.” Ford, who had
refused to answer any questions
surrounding the crack cocaine
allegations, appeared before the
press corps camped outside the

mayor’s office and hinted to
reporters that he wanted to be
asked about the allegations of
drug use.

In a later press conference,
he told reporters that he had
“nothing left to hide,” and felt
that “a thousand pounds have
been lifted off my shoulders.”

Ford has admitted to
possibly using crack cocaine
in what he termed “a drunken
stupor,” and stated that he
regretted many of his actions,
including the Danforth and
St. Patrick’s Day incidents.
Ford has been known to cause
considerable controversy for
himself when inebriated.

Shortly after Ford’s
admission, the Toronto Star
released a video of an inebriated
and agitated Ford, speaking to
an unknown person, suggesting
that he wanted to kill someone.

“Tl rip his fucking throat
out. I'll poke his eyes out... I'll
make sure that motherfucker’s

dead,” said Ford in the video.
He later added “Cause I’m
going to kill that fucking guy.
I’m telling you, it’s first-degree
murder.”

The subject of his rant is
unknown.

The video, which includes a
reference to a by-election, likely
dates the video in August of this
year. Ford had been pushing
for a by-election to choose a
replacement for Doug Holyday,
the departing Toronto deputy
mayor. The by-election did not
happen, as city council voted
to appoint a deputy mayor
instead of doing the $250,000
by-election.

Ford has offered a
brief apology for the video
and expressed his deep
embarrassment at the behaviour
he displayed.

The video was purchased
by the Toronto Star for $5,000,
but it is not said to be the same
video to which Toronto Police

Chief Bill Blair referred in a
press conference on October 31.
Blair indicated that the Toronto
Police Service are in possession
of video footage which he

says is similar in nature to

the information that has been
widely reported in the media.

Earlier this year, Gawker.
com attempted to purchase a
video which is reported to show
a drunken Mayor Ford smoking
crack cocaine. The video
subsequently disappeared, and
is widely believed to now be in
police custody.

These latest revelations
about the mayor’s behaviour
has some members of Toronto’s
city council looking to strip
Ford of some of his powers—
chief among them the ability
to appoint members of the
mayor’s executive committee.
Many councillors have urged
the mayor to take some time
off to get the help he needs.

In addition to the firestorm at

 

Toronto City Hall, the mayor’s
Sunday morning radio show
The City, which also features his
brother, Councillor Doug Ford,
has been cancelled.

Ford has continued to
dismiss calls for his resignation,
but his lawyer, Dennis Morris,
has suggested that the mayor
may be open to voluntarily
admitting himself to rehab.

MUO
Tar