BC Government's cuts to adult basic
education hurt most-marginalized

» Don’t Close the Doors lobbies New Westminster for support

Lauren Kelly
News Editor
© news@theotherpress.ca

n June 1, Don’t Close the

Doors campaigners Jenelle
Davies and Ruab Waraich
attended a meeting at New
Westminster City Hall and
presented with the goal of

campaign. They are responding to
Christy Clark’s Liberals and their
decision to both cut $6.9-million

in BC and allow schools to charge
tuition fees for it.

Adult Basic Education
refers to classes for people who
have either not graduated high
school and wish to upgrade
their high school classes to meet
post-secondary requirements,
or who are seeking to improve
basic literacy and numeracy
through developmental and ESL
programs.

With the new laws in place
since January 1, post-secondary
institutions can charge ABE
students $1,600 a semester, or
$320 a course, for all upgrading

: courses before ancillary fees. With :
: these fees, each course can cost :
: nearly $500.

“When this cut happened,

: the ministry assured us that
: adults would be able to take
: these classes through the school
: districts,” said Davies during the
: presentation. “And then they cut

: the funding for that as well.”
gaining the city’s support for their :

Since May 1, school districts

: that offer free upgrading courses
: for adults no longer receive

: funding from the government.
from Adult Basic Education (ABE) :

Those seeking ABE are

: people in the most marginalized
: groups: 58 per cent are women,

: 18 per cent are aboriginal people,
: 20 per cent are parents, 55 per

: cent are employed, and 79 per

: cent have graduated high school
: and want to be able to enter post-
: secondary. Seventy per cent of

: students continue their studies

: after ABE. ABE programs are

: essential for many adults who

: hope to start careers, but do not
: have the requirements.

There is an Adult Upgrading

: Grant that covers costs for
: schooling. Ifyou are a family of
: one, you must make less than

: gu.40 an hour, or about $23,000

: ayear, to qualify. “We know

: from talking to folks in the

: community that making $1.40

: an hour doesn’t leave you with so
: much extra money that you can

: pay nearly $500 for one course,”

: countered Davies.

The government had

: previously instated fees for ABE
: courses, and this prompted

: students to lobby. In 2007, they
: were abolished and for the last

: seven years, ABE students could
: attend school without having to
: worry about not being able to

: support themselves and attend

: school.

  

Photo by Douglas Students’ Union

“We're asking the

: government: ‘What’s changed
: since 2007?”

The campaign, supported

: by many teachers’ federations,

: students’ unions, and poverty

: coalitions, has now added their
: first, but likely not last, city to

: that list: New Westminster.

 

Metro Vancouver says no to transit plebiscite

» Nearly two-thirds of Lower Mainlanders reject higher taxes

Alex Stanton
Staff Writer

he polls closed on May

29 following nearly
three months of voting and
extensive campaigning from
opponents and proponents
of the Transportation and
Transit Referendum. On July
2, the results were in: most
voters in the Lower Mainland
were against a tax hike to fund
transit and infrastructure
improvements, disappointing
the Metro Vancouver Mayors’
Council.

The plebiscite concerning
whether Metro-Vancouverites
would pay an extra 0.5 per cent
sales tax over the course of
the next 10 years ended with
61.68 per cent of residents
voting against the increase,
and 38.32 per cent voting for it.
The overall voter turnout was
51 per cent—higher than the
44.13 per cent that voted in the
Vancouver municipal election
last year.

The $7.5-billion, 10-
year plan involved major
improvements to the transit

: and traffic infrastructure of

: the Lower Mainland. Projects

: that would have been funded

: through this plan included

: light rail transit (LRT) through
: Surrey and Langley, 25 per cent
: more bus service region-wide,

: and the replacement of the

: almost 80-year-old Pattullo

: Bridge.

Ata press conference on

: Thursday, TransLink interim

: CEO Doug Allen told reporters
: “there is a clear no outcome,

: and we must respect that,” and
: that TransLink would still do

: its best to deliver service at a

: reasonable price through cost

: savings, despite the inability to
: expand.

The de facto representative

: of the No side, Canadian

: Taxpayers Federation

: spokesperson Jordan Bateman,
: expressed his elation at

: the results and called it a

: “tremendous victory for

: taxpayers.”

“Of course this was about

: TransLink,’ Bateman reiterated
: at a press release the day of the
: results. “TransLink wastes too

: much money to be trusted with : British Columbia by 2020.

 

7

: more of it.”
: Despite the fact that Surrey :
: residents voted no in the :
: plebiscite, Mayor Linda Hepner
: told the Province she vows to

: move forward with the LRT

: system ina city that is expected
: to be the most populated in

The results show that the
suburbs voted strongly against

With both a sales tax and

mt

  

 

Photo by Stephanie Xu via The Ubyssey

 

: property tax taken off the table
: by the Mayors’ Council, Lower
: the sales tax compared with the :
: City of Vancouver, with over 70
: per cent of residents voting no.
: The City of Vancouver itself had :
: a 50.81 per cent vote against, the :
: closest vote in the whole region. :

Mainland politicians will have

: to go back to the drawing board
: to improve infrastructure in a

region that’s slated to have an
extra 1.1 million residents by
2040,