“Before we start, I just want to say I’m glad that I have this,” said Cathy Ashurst, referring to the box of tissues next to her microphone.
As a former regional director for the College of New Caledonia (CNC), Ashurst said staff of the Lakes District campus made a difference locally and across the country with the delivery of family programs.
“You [CNC staff] helped shape our community to be a better place,” said Ashurst.
Heightened emotions and speeches interrupted by tears marked the event, despite the campus’ best efforts to maintain some levity.
Monty Palmantier, Education Director for Lake Babine Nation, delivered a strong speech, saying some decisions made by the CNC board of directors have been detrimental to children and families in the Lakes District.
“There are folks around this province, even within the Ministry of Advanced Education, that are shaking their heads right now wondering how the demise of these programs have come to pass.”
“There are folks that over the years have looked at what we do and how we do it, and have taken upon themselves to create programs that are modelled in what we have developed over the years,” said Palmantier.
The family programs’ hub model of service, which has been delivered for over 25 years at the Lakes District campus, has been recognized provincially and internationally for the effective support it provided to those dealing with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and unstable living situations.
“These programs were developed to fit real needs in this community,” added Palmantier. “CNC Prince George and their decision [to transfer the programs] left some people - and I’ll keep it clean - with a heavy heart.”
Starting April 1, 2016, most of the family programs that were delivered at the Lakes District campus will be transferred to the Prince George and District Elizabeth Fry Society and the Bulkley Valley Child Development Centre, which is based in Smithers.
The healthier babies brighter futures program will no longer be funded.
The CNC board has made a series of cutbacks to address a deficit of $2.8 million in its 2015/16 operational budget. However, the decision to transfer the family programs to other agencies had little to do with money.
The CNC board say they want to move away from what they call ‘social programming’ to refocus on education.
Bernadette Ridley, laid off in March 2015, worked for five years at the Lakes District campus as a counsellor and academic advisor. She said she was devastated when she found out that the family programs were being transferred.
“I worked for 20 years as a counsellor and this was the most progressive place I’ve worked,” she said. “People had a real vision, and that has been completely destroyed; we’re concerned that these programs are being given to organizations that may not have the same vision.”
Burns Lake Mayor Luke Strimbold took responsibility for not being able to deter the transfer of the family programs, saying this was “one of his biggest failures.”
“We tried hard, we met with a number of folks, but we weren’t able to influence the decisions that were made,” said Strimbold.
The village has made several attempts to convince the CNC board that post-secondary education and family social services are not philosophically misaligned.
Last year a delegation of concerned Burns Lake residents, including Strimbold, travelled to Victoria in an effort to ensure that the family programs would not be transferred.
The Burns Lake delegation spoke directly with Stephanie Cadieux, Minister of Children and Family Development. As the primary funder of the family programs, the ministry was overseeing their transfer. Strimbold later said he was disappointed with the ministry’s lack of engagement.
Strimbold has also criticized the CNC executive for its handling of the college’s cutbacks, and he wasn’t alone.
Last year the Faculty Association of the College of New Caledonia passed motions of non-confidence in senior administrators after repeated efforts to engage them over concerns with the erosion of programs.
North Central Local Government Association president Brian Frenkel also expressed his disappointment with the current CNC executive. Frenkel said community consultations held across the region by CNC did not feel like consultations.
“We hear that communities are being engaged, and that’s not true,” said Frenkel. “There was no true engagement; to me, the homework wasn’t done.”
During a community consultation held in Burns Lake with CNC president Henry Reiser on Dec. 2, 2015, a number of participants walked out of the meeting.
“We believe that our community will stand together,” said Strimbold last week. “We will continue to work together through the transition [of family programs] so that individuals in our community are supported.”