There’s really something for everyone in this week’s Public Bills committee meetings–from farmers speaking about protecting water over profits in Nova Scotia, veteran public servants standing against threats to workers’ jobs, teachers warning against threats to academic freedom and ordinary people asking why their access to public information is being limited.
If you missed Monday’s meeting, watch part 1 here and part 2 here. Then, prepare for another day.
Today’s meeting continues last night’s public presentations on Bill 12, also known as An Act Respecting Advanced Education and Research.
The government has said this bill “will strengthen post-secondary institution financial accountability, sustainability and alignment with government priorities.” However, university teachers, workers and students have criticized many parts of this hefty package of new and amended legislation.
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Bill 12 includes policy that could violate university workers’ rights
Bill 12 includes the following:
- Changes to the Community Colleges Act give the minister of advanced education the power to authorize Nova Scotia Community College to grant undergraduate degrees; make NSCC’s tuition and fee policy and multi-year plans subject to the minister’s approval, and allow the minister to “give binding directions” to NSCC’s board of governors.
- Changes to the Private Career Colleges Act clarify that colleges owned or operated by the provincial or federal governments will not be governed under this act and give the minister of advanced education the authority to appoint an “internal reviewer” in place of the current role of a senior executive director.
- Changes to the Research Nova Scotia Corporation Act require the independent organization to align its research decisions with government-mandated priorities or risk losing funding. These changes give the minister of advanced education unilateral power to determine the province’s key research priorities.
- Changes to the Universities Accountability and Sustainability Act give the minister authority to trigger a revitalization plan at any university. This can result in a merger, cuts, or a pause in the right to collective bargaining for university employees and staff.
- A new piece of legislation, the University Board Governance Act, standardizes the composition of university boards of governors, sets a cap on membership and gives the minister the authority to stack half the seats on the BOG. The act introduces term limits and training schedules for new board members. However, it does not mention the role of university senates in the school’s collegial governance model.
The Coast spoke with Alexina St. Pierre Farrow, Nova Scotia’s representative for the Canadian Federation of Students, about students’ concerns about Bill 12.
CFS-NS represents 10,000 students across the province and St. Pierre Farrow is speaking at Tuesday’s meeting.
CFS-NS released a statement on March 12 criticizing the bill for its “far-reaching and destabilizing effects” on the independence of post-secondary institutions. The statement also criticized the bill for giving the minister of advanced education “unparalleled power and authority” over the appointment of university board members, the ability to dictate that research aligns with government interests, and the power to impose revitalization processes. The statement pointed out that, historically, revitalization plans have meant cuts to programs, student services, jobs, or institutional autonomy more generally.
The following conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
The Coast: What are your concerns with Bill 12?
St. Pierre Farrow: Beyond what we’ve expressed in our statement, I’m concerned that many people aren’t yet informed about how far-reaching this bill’s consequences could be. It doesn’t just affect students or people within the university; it involves research that impacts everyone’s health and safety.
As for changes to university governance, quite frankly, there’s already a lack of faith in boards of governors at universities. But students are even less trustful of the possibility that up to half of their school’s BOG could be appointed by the minister of advanced education and that they’re adopting a one-size-fits-all approach to universities. We know that each university has vastly different needs, and you can’t assess those needs based on what one person thinks is right for all.
TC: Are you not buying the minister’s claim that he respects the diversity and uniqueness of each school and wants them to last indefinitely?
SPF: Absolutely not. The existence of this bill and the fact that it’s been proposed is a clear expression of incredible disregard for institutional autonomy, students and faculty.
Another big concern is the rhetoric around government priorities. There is no communication about these, so we don’t know what we’re getting into or what we are potentially approving of. There is not enough clarification.
I see it this way: if research and funding are only guaranteed for things that align with these unclear priorities, which can depend on what the government wants to profit from, then the land will be affected. I’m imagining more pollution and disregard for the ecological health of this land, which will first impact Indigenous and marginalized communities.
I’m worried about the long-term impacts of this bill as well. And I don’t see a lot of conversation about that. And it’s pretty scary.
What would you like to see happen with Bill 12?
I would like to see students have a voice. It shocks me how few people ask, ‘What do the students need?’
In your view, should the bill be scrapped entirely? Or can it be changed?
I see very few redeeming qualities in it, so it shouldn’t be happening. If we want real change in how our universities are governed or what is being researched, we need to look to a more genuinely democratic approach based on collective action with students and faculty. As I said before, there’s already a lack of faith in university boards of governors from the students, but this will only make that problem worse.
What would a good bill look like?
It would be a bill requiring universities to work collaboratively with students, setting guidelines for how to do that work more effectively, and encouraging more research into how universities can govern themselves in ways that better suit their students. One of the most significant issues with Bill 12 is that it assumes all universities need the same thing, which, even if this was a good bill, would still not be true.
I would love to see a bill that requires universities to work with students, workers, and faculty in ways that are uniquely suited to the needs of their schools and campuses.
Are students concerned enough with this bill to reconsider studying in Nova Scotia?
I think so, yes. Current students have told me, ‘I don’t think I would want to come to school here if I was just starting now.’ I’m not getting any good feedback on it. I’m also worried that passing it will set a dangerous precedent for other provinces because of how things are shifting across the country.
What are your fellow CFS representatives saying about this?
We’ve been working with CFS to help students be more informed about the upcoming [federal] election and help students prepare because many people are very scared, and rightfully so.
I and others are pretty disturbed by the rapid shift to the right in Canadian politics and politicians in Nova Scotia. This recent shift has been terrifying for many students, especially international students and students from out of province who have come here because Nova Scotia has always had a reputation for being quiet and safe but still connected enough to provide opportunities. People are scared. People are really scared.
This article appears in Mar 1-31, 2025.