The University of Manitoba Faculty Association is fighting the government again — this time it’s about a bill that would allow the province to withhold funds from colleges and universities that don’t adopt a sexual violence policy that meets its requirements.
“After seven years of a different government who really was always trying to interfere in the autonomy of the university, this is really exceptionally concerning,” UMFA president Orvie Dingwall said in a Friday interview.
In 2022, UMFA fought and won a $19.3-million legal battle against the then-Progressive Conservatives government who illegally meddled in the collective bargaining process.
Now, the faculty association is fighting an NDP government bill (the Advanced Education Administration Act) that was introduced without any consultation with the faculty or administration, Dingwall said.
It potentially puts education funding at risk, she said ahead of a committee reviewing it Monday night at the legislature.
“Normally, any time there’s proposed changes to the advanced education act, then the university administration is consulted and the Manitoba Organization of Faculty Associations, of which we’re a part, are consulted,” Dingwall said.
“In this instance, there was nothing. That, in and of itself, is really concerning.”
The faculty association learned of the bill when it passed second reading on April 18. Now, Bill 10 is at the committee stage where members of the public can weigh in and recommend changes. UMFA, the Manitoba Organization of Faculty Associations, the Brandon University Faculty Association and the University of Winnipeg Faculty Association are among 13 presenters registered to speak Monday.
“As a faculty association, we’ve been highly critical of how the University of Manitoba’s administration has handled sexual violence incidents in the past, and there’s definite room for improvement,” Dingwall said.
She challenged the notion that a bill to withhold funding to a post-secondary education “would in some way actually help students — especially those who have encountered sexual violence or gender-based violence.”
Existing legislation and Workplace Safety and Health regulations are in place to address such issues, and the provincial government appoints most university board governors to review and update policies and make sure they’re obeyed, she said.
“If there is a problem, there’s mechanisms through that board of governors to already make the changes that wouldn’t take away operating funding but could really dedicate resources to do whatever is needed to make those changes,” the UMFA president said.
Advanced Education Minister Renee Cable defended the proposed legislation.
“As minister, my first role is to keep students safe and to ensure that every student who comes to campus and every parent who sends their student to campus knows they’ll be safe,” Cable said in an interview. “My job is to make sure that we do as much as we can to ensure that happens.”
Cable wouldn’t comment on consulting with faculty or administration about the bill before introducing it.
“The bill is just, really, a small amendment to an already existing law to ensure that students are kept safe,” the rookie minister said. “It increases accountability and ensures that there are no gaps.”
Under amendments to the Advanced Education Administration Act, the government may reduce funding to an educational institution that fails to adopt and implement a sexual violence policy that meets the requirements of the Act. It would also require post-secondary schools to make publicly available the results of a review of its sexual violence policy.
Cable said she’s met with faculty associations in recent weeks and looks forward to meeting with them again Monday.
Since the bill was introduced March 7, Cable has not provided an example of events or issues that prompted her government to seek the power to pull a post-secondary school’s funding.
She dismissed concerns it is government overreach that could be misused.
“I think everyone would agree that it’s not in anyone’s interest to pull back a grant,” the minister said.
“That is a last resort. But we also need to make sure that institutions have as much incentive as they need to ensure that the policies in place will protect students.”
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter
After 20 years of reporting on the growing diversity of people calling Manitoba home, Carol moved to the legislature bureau in early 2020.