Debate over the College of New Caledonia (CNC) flared up again on May 15, with Councillor Charlie Rensby leading the charge.
The question arose as Burns Lake village council considered a request by the Rural Post-Secondary Education Committee (RPEC) to provide up to $10,000 in funding to update a 2015 socio-economic study about the CNC campus.
Members of RPEC say the study would reveal steep declines in staffing and full-time equivalent students enrolled, indicating a college in crisis — and that a rural campus of the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT) would be a better fit, particularly for Indigenous people.
Their funding request was deferred for the second time, with councillors instead choosing to organize a large stakeholders meeting about the contentious topic. It was a decision that didn’t sit well with members of RPEC, who said the study would be necessary for that meeting to be meaningful.
Rensby warns of decline
Mayor Chris Beach and Councillor Susan Schienbein both recused themselves from the discussion to avoid conflicts of interest — both are married to CNC employees, while Beach also works as a teacher for Lake Babine Nation, which has supported the establishment of an NVIT campus in Burns Lake.
Among the remaining three members of council, it was Rensby who championed the funding of an updated study, saying that presentations at the recent Minerals North conference in Houston had helped convince him that NVIT’s approach would serve the community by providing career-oriented skills training in sectors including mining.
He also expressed concern a declining CNC could leave Burns Lake without a viable college. “If we don’t have a school, we’re going to be screwed,” he said. “Hate to say it, but we’re going to end up like Granisle or Fraser Lake, not a lot happening there.”
Councillors balk
But councillors Michael Riis-Christianson and Kelly Holliday appeared reluctant to invest money in a study that seems destined to pillory the local CNC campus.
Holliday said she was wanted to consult with officials from the provincial Ministry of Advanced Education before making a decision, while Riis-Christianson argued that council needed to consult with local First Nations, regional directors representing the Burns Lake and Francois-Ootsa Lake rural areas, and members of the local economic diversification committee, which he chairs.
“It would be, in my opinion, delinquent for us to make this decision in isolation,” said Riis-Christianson, adding that he was unconvinced the study was a spending priority.
The discussion became heated as Rensby expressed impatience with the process, saying the issue had dragged on for too long. “I’m completely frustrated with the bureaucratic circling stuff that’s been happening,” she said. “I wasn’t elected to sit here and B.S. back and forth and push the paper, I was elected to try and get stuff done.”
Ultimately, council voted unanimously to hold a meeting on the topic of post-secondary education, inviting the chiefs of the six area First Nations, along with RDBN directors Eileen Benedict and Bill Miller.
RPEC protests
During a public comment period at the end of the meeting, Rick Pooley of RPEC voiced the group’s vexation about the council’s decision, saying the planned meeting would be fruitless without new data from the proposed study.
“This meeting will really need up-to-date data,” said Pooley, calling it “essential for the discussion.”
Council previously resolved to invite CNC officials to address council, and village staff say the latter meeting will take place on June 12.