Students, faculty at MUN request urgent meeting with Premier Wakeham ahead of provincial budget
The Coalition of Unions; a Coalition of students, faculty and workers at Memorial University of Newfoundland representing over 20,000 members, have written to the Premier Tony Wakeham requesting an urgent meeting ahead of the provincial budget. The letter calls on the Premier to honour commitments he made publicly before taking office.
In a formal written response to Coalition Members during the last provincial election, and in public statements to the media, Premier Wakeham made a commitment. “Let me assure you – and all educators, students and the general public of Newfoundland and Labrador – that the Progressive Conservative Party’s commitment to improving education in our province is rock solid.”
He went on to make the following specific promises to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
- Memorial University would be maintained as a comprehensive publicly-funded university across all campuses, including Grenfell and Labrador
- MUN would be funded to sustain high-quality teaching, research and community engagement across all its campuses
- University leadership would not be allowed to balance its books on the backs of students
- The provincial government has a responsibility to invest in the university and to meet and engage regularly with students and faculty to hear their concerns
- A PC government would work collaboratively with the university community on real solutions to matters putting education at risk, rather than imposing top-down solutions
- Any path forward for Memorial would require a long-term plan and vision developed with all stakeholders
- An obligation to collaborate on any MUN Act updates needed to ensure the role of the Memorial community in establishing the university’s mandate and purpose
- Graduates who stay, work and live in the province would receive their tuition back
A decade of provincial underfunding has left Memorial facing real consequences: significant job losses, program cuts, growing class sizes, and deferred infrastructure maintenance. The only public university in this province is a central driver of economic development, innovation and population growth across the province. Premier Wakeham came to office having identified these exact problems and promised to do things differently. The upcoming budget is the clearest opportunity yet to make good on those promises and to rebuild a lasting legacy of genuine investment in this province’s people.
The Coalition is calling on Premier Wakeham to keep his word and meet with the coalition ahead of the provincial budget announcement on April 29th.
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