Dec 10, 2008
For Immediate Release
December 10, 2008
(Queen?s Park) ? Either give 50,000 York University students the help they need to get back to school or resign, PC Thornhill MPP Peter Shurman demanded of the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities today.
(See video of Peter questioning John Milloy on Shurman TV to the right)
?The Liberals have one more day to do the right thing and save the academic careers of 50,000 York U. students. The Progressive Conservative Party is prepared to get to work tomorrow morning on legislation that will get these students back to school on Monday,? said Shurman. ?York U. students have paid for a wasted academic semester and now they are paying for Liberal incompetence.?
Shurman has asked Minister John Milloy six questions over the past month about the York University dispute but the Minister has failed to provide reasonable answers. Shurman has given two members? statements on the issue, presented three petitions and tabled a Private Member?s Bill calling on the Liberals to pass back-to-work legislation before the House rises tomorrow. Despite this, the McGuinty Liberals have done nothing to get York students back to school.
Shurman noted that the Legislature isn?t expected to return until at least mid-February, making it virtually impossible to pass emergency back-to-work legislation for another two months ? too late to save the academic year.
?This Liberal government says they are dedicated to an educated workforce,? said Shurman. ?Yet, here we have 50,000 students who are the future of this province, being shut of their school ? and the McGuinty Liberals aren?t doing a thing about it.?
Added Shurman: ?As Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, Mr. Milloy would do well to remember that just like university administrators and unions, students are his constituents too, and he should be standing up for them, not ignoring them.?
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For more information:
Peter Shurman, MPP
(416) 325-1415
DRAFT HANSARD ? DECEMBER 10, 2008
University labour dispute
Mr. Peter Shurman: My question is for the Premier. Your Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities has stonewalled my questions on the York University strike from the moment I rose in this Legislature and asked the first one, weeks ago. He says I haven?t any exclusivity on concern, but it?s not about me, Premier. If the strike is not resolved within the next few days, 2008 is lost and, once the House shuts down tomorrow, there is no legislative recourse for 50,000 students. Our party is prepared to sit tomorrow morning, when nothing is scheduled for debate, to deal with back-to-work legislation. Are you prepared to introduce it, save the year for these people and not waste millions at a time when that?s just unacceptable? Will you do it, Premier?
Hon. Dalton McGuinty: To the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities.
Hon. John Milloy: I repeat that I think every member in the Legislature is concerned about the situation at York University. We continue to ask both sides, encourage both sides to come to the table for an agreement that?s in the best interests of the students and come to that agreement quickly. But at the same time, I think the honourable member has to recognize that, despite his questions that he raises in the House, ultimately universities are autonomous. This government believes in the collective bargaining process and we continue to encourage both sides to follow that process and reach an agreement as quickly as possible.
Mr. Peter Shurman: The Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities sounds self-righteous to me. He has no concern, no concern for the student body of York University, for the striking workers either, and his worker retraining programs are a farce, too. He has no business in this portfolio; he has no business in this House. If something as rudimentary as resolving a highly punitive strike at a mainstream university is, in his opinion, in the autonomous hands of the university and the administration, not his problem, then he should resign. He should resign. Fifty thousand students need help and that?s what this minister should be offering.
Applause.
Mr. Peter Shurman: I ask again: Will this minister and this government end the nonsense or will the minister get out of the way and allow someone to take the job seriously?
Hon. John Milloy: I?ve been very proud to be part of a government that has made post-secondary education one of its hallmarks. I?ve been very proud to serve with a Premier who made one of the largest investments in post-secondary education in our history. I am concerned about the situation at York University, as is every member of this Legislature, and despite the member?s theatrics I think he recognizes that universities are autonomous institutions and we have a collective bargaining system in this province. That means sometimes there are strikes. That is unfortunate and we call on both sides to get back to the table and to resolve this dispute as quickly as possible in the best interests of those students at York University.