Tuition cap should be enshrined in legislation: students

The Council of Alberta University Students delivered 1,500 letters to the provincial government Tuesday to advocate for a long-term plan that would make post-secondary education more affordable.

Chairman Andrew Bieman, who is a student at MacEwan University studying political science, said the organization is asking that a tuition cap be laid out in legislation.

“What this means is that students will have a long-term sustainable tuition plan that’s hopefully capped at the consumer price index,” he said at a news conference at the Alberta legislature.

The province implemented a tuition freeze in 2015 and launched a review.

Advanced Education Minister Marlin Schmidt said the NDP will bring forward related legislation in the fall.

“We’ve heard clearly from students that something needs to be done to provide a guarantee of affordability,” he told reporters.

“We ran on a policy of implementing a tuition freeze, but we recognize the tuition freeze was a temporary measure.”

The letters handed to Schmidt were from students at five Alberta universities — University of Alberta, University of Calgary, University of Lethbridge, Mount Royal University and MacEwan University.

LOCAL FOOD COUNCIL TO MEET

Alberta’s first Local Food Council will meet this week with the aim of providing recommendations to grow the province’s local food sector, said a Monday news release.

Legislation passed in May stipulated the creation of a council that will look at issues including local food distribution, barriers for producers and consumer awareness.

“Our new Local Food Council is a tremendous group of engaged, energetic and community-minded people who are invested in the local food process,” said Agriculture and Forestry Minister Oneil Carlier in a statement.

Council members were selected through a public recruitment process and will report to the minister within a year. The council will then be disbanded.