The MacKinnon Report of 2019, commissioned by the UCP govt to provide a veneer of academic credibility to the policies it already planned to implement, takes the view that it is the govt's job to decide what the priorities of post-secondary education should be. 1/n #abpoli

The report recommends (p. 42) that "the future [PSEI] funding model ensure a link between provincial macro goals and outcomes to be achieved by post-secondary institutions." 2/n @cafaab @TheAASUA #UAlberta

It is certainly not unreasonable to expect our PSEIs to serve the public interest--a goal that is to be found in their existing mission statements (which the report's authors to not appear to have read). 3/n @UAlberta @ArtsSquared @davidkahane #ableg

But do we want governments imposing their ideological directions on PSE? Micro-managing and cherry-picking which programs they want PSEIs to offer and which ones they want to eliminate, based on the views of a handful of politicians about what is good for Albertans? 4/n

The dangers of putting control of the PSEIs in the hands of a political clique and its appointees could not be clearer than they are in Alberta today, where the UCP is in the process of running the economy into the ground. 5/n @UAlberta @UCalgary @uLethbridge @UASUualberta

It will be simply disastrous for Alberta's young people and for future generations if the UCP succeeds in using its budgetary power to mold PSE to its vision of the future of our province. 6/n @AthabascaU @mountroyal4u @MacEwanU @NorQuest #abpoli

The UCP's project is entirely nostalgic, uninformed by knowledge of what is going on in the world outside our province, and unwilling to face the reality that everything is changing. Our young people need to be prepared for these changes. 7/n @UAlberta #UAlberta

Our young people deserve a post-secondary education system that can meet their needs, that can equip them with the knowledge they need to build the world they want to live in, and leave for their children. 8/n

The existing system isn't perfect, but instead of improving it, the UCP is taking a wrecking ball to our PSEIs and shrinking access to higher education by making it less affordable. This is wrong. Wrong for Albertans, and wrong for our youth. 9/n

Albertans need post-secondary education--in all its forms--more than ever. This is the worst possible time to be driving highly skilled and educated people out of the province and closing off pathways to diverse life opportunities for our young people. 10/n