The “Lifelong Learning Centre” at the University of Regina is being shut down, and the NDP is crying “foul”.
According to the Saskatchewan NDP, The U of R warned the Sask Party government months ago that without new funding, they wouldn’t be able to continue the program, There was no funding offered from the government
Gord Wyant, the Minister of Advanced Education said on seven different occasions in the house there wouldn’t be program cuts as a result.
“These cuts are upsetting but not surprising. Given the state of our economy, our hospitals and schools, and the cost of tuition, these cuts are just the latest example in a long line of Sask. Party failures,” said Advanced Education Critic Jennifer Bowes. “We called on Moe’s Minister to provide emergency funding to the U of R months ago in order to avoid these program cuts. He refused to listen. Yet again, Saskatchewan people are being forced to pay the price for this out-of-touch government’s incompetence.”
Some seniors who use the program joined the NDP for a protest, on the same day the provincial government announced a 1.58 billion dollar surplus, with almost all of it going to pay down debt.
Kay Antrobus, one such senior who has relied on the Centre for over 25 years, remarked that “these classes used to be vibrant, stimulating and social. We are devastated by the cutting of our classes. The mental health of seniors is important.”
