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Opposition asks Burke to fight literacy cuts October 5, 2006 |
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Percy Barrett, MHA for the District of Bellevue and former president of the
Movement for Canadian Literacy, is calling on Education Minister Joan Burke
to become more involved in the fight to reverse cuts to literacy programs
made by her federal conservative colleagues. "Minister Burke should be more vocal if she opposes these cuts rather than just allowing them to go unchallenged," said Mr. Barrett. "I question whether she has contacted federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Treasury Board President John Baird to express her disagreement with these cuts. Has she been in contact with this province’s cabinet minister, Loyola Hearn, to express her strong disagreement with these cuts? The minister has been unusually quiet given the impacts these cuts will have on this province and it is time for her to indicate what actions she has taken to fight for literacy funding in this province." The Liberal MHA explained that of the approximately $18 million that was recently cut from literacy funding by the federal conservatives, more than $700,000 will come in cuts in this province. He expects this level of cuts to have a very significant impact on program delivery and the lives of people who are working to improve their literacy skills. "I am very suspicious as to why the provincial minister has not been very forceful on this issue. I don’t know if party politics is getting in the way of her representing the interests of this province. The other possibility is that she is so embarrassed by her government’s own cuts to social spending that she is a little hesitant to be critical when someone else is doing the same kind of thing. We have to remember that this is the same minister that closed HRLE offices around the province and made cuts to the School for the Deaf." The Liberal MHA praised the efforts of the literacy coalition in this province for their efforts to restore literacy programs across this province and country. "They have shown that they will fight these cuts and they are taking actions such as the Literacy walk on October 11 to raise awareness."
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