REPORT
ON CAUT COUNCIL
I attended CAUT Council in Ottawa from November 24-26. The Thursday prior to the Council meetings was devoted to a Parliament Hill Lobby Day. I was able to meet with Conservative MP Bill Casey, Liberal MP Scott Brison and NDP MP Peter Stoffer. All were sympathetic to the message that we need to invest more in post-secondary education in Canada. Mr. Casey assured me that he would bring the matter to the attention of the Finance Minister. Mr. Brison agreed to take the issue up with Mike Savage, who is the Liberal Critic for ACOA.
CAUT has developed draft legislation recommending a new mechanism for Federal transfers to the provinces for post-secondary education and Mr. Layton of the NDP has agreed to introduce that legislation as a private members bill. Polling data indicates that high tuition is an issue of significant concern to Canadians, particularly in Atlantic Canada. I would urge all of you to contact your MP (no postage required) and urge them to support the bill.
Various interesting matters where brought before the CAUT Council. One of the highlights was a panel presentation on the Arar case, dealing with the losses to civil liberties in the post 9-11 era and the potential impacts on academic freedom.
We heard reports of federal program cuts to many advocacy groups. Council passed a resolution calling on the government to restore funding to the Status of Women Committee and urging members to contact their MP to lobby for these changes.
We heard reports of great difficulties in negotiations from all across the country. Particularly disturbing was a report from Université Ste. Anne. The Association reported that they had reached a tentative agreement with the employer that the Association membership ratified. However, the employer subsequently declined to honour the agreement.
Issues related to Health and Safety were discussed with particular emphasis on the hazards associated with asbestos. Our Health and Safety rep, Connie Foote, reported at our October meeting on progress with the asbestos inventory. It is a very critical issue as there are very serious long-term health risks associated with very minimal exposures to air-borne asbestos fibres. We will look forward to getting the results of the Acadia asbestos inventory and sharing those with you. Awareness of the location of asbestos on campus is important for all members of the community in order to avoid inadvertent exposure.
While the meetings were long, I was pleased to see that the CAUT is very active and working on our behalf on a wide range of issues. It was also a very valuable opportunity to meet and discuss workplace issues with colleagues from across Canada.
Peter Williams