www.canadafoi.ca/studentfoi (April 2024) stanleytromp@gmail.com
“I’m very concerned about the information you presented about what’s happening at Langara, as an advocate for open government and transparency at all levels.”
- B.C. Premier David Eby, then MLA, speaking to Langara College students at Legislative Special Committee to review the FOIPP Act, Nov. 18, 2015 (See testimony)
See the histories of financial, electoral and other misconduct at:
= Langara Students’ Union (LSU), with news archive
= Kwantlen Student Association (KSA)
= Douglas Students’ Union (DSU)
= Other B.C. student societies (SFU, UVic, etc.)
= More Canadian student societies
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The purpose of this website is to raise awareness of grievous financial and electoral problems in B.C. student societies, of systemic abuses of power dating back half a century, and the urgent need for a complete legislative reform to these societies.
In February 2024, Premier David Eby appointed a new Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills, the Hon. Lisa Beare. We welcome the new minister, and hope she can serve as the new broom that sweeps clean.
A provincial election will be held on October 19, 2024, and B.C. college students and their parents – who are also taxpayers and voters – may well reward those MLAs who have chosen to protect students from such harms. (The problems are fully detailed in the seven links above.)
To do so also provides this NDP administration with a chance to regain some degree of public trust on transparency policy, which was decimated by its passage of Bill 22 two years ago, a bill so harmful to our FOI law, with its new $10 application fee, etc. The single best cure for these societies’ misconduct and students’ misery is full transparency.
The NDP wishes to be known as “the party of affordability.” B.C. families are under growing financial strain, and hard times have caused the layoffs of college staff and instructors, plus cutbacks to sports teams and other student services. Yet in this context, B.C. student societies are still unaffected and prospering at public expense, which renders their waste and misconduct even more intolerable.
Let us all now work to create an enduring legacy of justice, democracy, and fiscal responsibility for students in B.C. colleges and universities. For everything there is indeed a season, and in the midst of spring this year we should welcome this opportunity for renewal.
- Stanley L. Tromp, graduate of Langara College’s journalism school (1993), author of Fallen Behind: Canada’s Access to Information Act in the World Context (2nd, FIPA, 2020)
[More to come…….]
You can speak or write about B.C. student societies to:
[1] Hon. David Eby, K.C., Premier of British Columbia
Parliament Buildings
Victoria, BC V8V 1X4
(250) 387-1715
Vancouver constituency office, Point Grey
2909 West Broadway St.
Vancouver, BC V6K 2G6
(604) 660-1297
[2] Hon. Lisa Beare, Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills
Room 346 Parliament Buildings
Victoria, BC V8V 1X4
(250) 356-0179
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows constituency office
104-20130 Lougheed Hwy.
Maple Ridge, BC V2X 2P7
(604) 465-9299
[3] Bobbi Plecas, Deputy Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills
Victoria – (778) 698-4059.
[4] Nicola Lemmer, Assistant Deputy Minister
Victoria – (250) 952-0697
PSFS.ADMPost-SecondaryPolicyandPrgms@gov.bc.ca
[5] Michael A. Pickup, B.C. Auditor General
623 Fort Street, Victoria, BC, V8W 1G1
250-419-6100
bcauditor@bcauditor.com
[6] Jay Chalke, B.C. Ombudsman
PO Box 9039, Stn Prov Gov’t.
Victoria, BC V8W 9A5
250-387-5855
[7] Kaine Sparks, Executive Director, Registrar, BC Societies
(778) 698-1404, or 1-877-526-1526. Victoria
Kaine.Sparks@gov.bc.ca or BCRegistries@gov.bc.ca
[8] MLA Michael Lee, BC United Party, Vancouver-Langara riding (which includes Langara College)
(604) 660-8380 (Vancouver office)
(250) 356-6171 (Legislature office)
[9] MLA Harry Bains, former Kwantlen University board vice-chair, Surrey Newton riding (which includes Kwantlen’s main campus)
(604) 597-8248 (Surrey office)
(250) 953-0910 (Legislature office)
[10] MLA John Rustad, leader, B.C. Conservative Party
(250) 567-6820 (Vanderhoof office)
(250) 387-3011 (Legislature office)
[11] MLA Coralee Oakes, BC United Party critic of post-secondary education
(250) 991-0296 (Quesnel office)
(250) 356-6171 (Legislature office)
[12] MLA Sonia Furstenau, leader, B.C. Green Party
(250) 715-2792 (Duncan office)
(250) 387-8347 (Legislature office)
[13] Alan Davis, president, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
12666 72 Avenue
Surrey, BC V3W 2M8
(604) 599-2078
Kwantlen Board of Governors – boardofgovernors@kpu.ca
[14] Paula Burns, president, Langara College
100 West 49th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5Y 2Z6
(604) 323-5827
pburns@langara.ca or president.office@langara.ca
Langara Board of Governors – ahsu@langara.ca
[15] Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF)
Carson Binda, B.C. director
(604) 719-1677
[16] BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA)
Jason Woywada, executive-director – jason@fipa.bc.ca
Mike Larsen, president, and Kwantlen Criminology Dept. chair – mike@fipa.bc.ca
(604) 739-9788
Other B.C. colleges and universities
For B.C. colleges and universities (e.g., in Nanaimo, Prince George) not on the list above, to find your MLA’s contact information, click on Election BC’s 2023 Location Index at this site. The college will be on this list, in Section 1 – with the electoral district name. Then go to this legislative website, to find the MLA who serves the electoral district of that name.
Legislative Press Gallery, Victoria
(250) 387-1591
President – richard.zussman@globalnews.ca
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