Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Monday, March 18, 2013

Edmonton Students Protest Against Post-Secondary Education Cuts In 2013 Alberta Budget

Hundreds of post-secondary students and staff marched to the legislature in Edmonton to protest against province-wide education cuts on Friday.

The group met at the University of Alberta to discuss the potential for a concerted response to the Alberta budget, before rallying on the steps of the legislature.

"People are very upset. People are very mad and justifiably so,” said Brent Kelly, a fourth-year political science student at the University of Alberta to Global News.

Alberta's 2013 budget did not deliver on the promised two per cent funding increase for post-secondary institutions. Instead, the province cut operating grants to post-secondary institutions by nearly seven per cent, to $2 billion.

“Their term is four years. Ours is a lifetime," said environmental engineering professor Selma Guigard to the Edmonton Journal.

NDP MP Linda Duncan, NDP MLA Rachel Notley and Liberal MLA Raj Sherman were among the speakers at the rally, the Edmonton Journal adds.

A leaked internal email, from earlier this week, revealed the University of Alberta is eyeing deep cuts because of reductions in operating grants announced in the government's budget.

The email, released Wednesday by the NDP, says university president Indira Samarasekera instructed faculty heads last weekend to draw up scenarios to spend 20 per cent less starting next year.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.ca
Author: The Huffington Post Alberta

1 comment:

  1. I learned at an Edmonton post secondary school that democracy is the most effective form of government.

    ReplyDelete