The Cadre, February 10, 1976, page 6

“.3. Sin

dent Prolesters1

/

He also said a group of

'Students "should consider e-hen yes in Quebec student unions are co_

the present structure and support for.

the students in ,Erederict’oflfl ~‘Wojo‘zyn

FREDERICTON (CUP)-——The occ— upation of a government bui— lding by 600 New Brunswick students to force changes in that provinces student aid system is into its second week. Included in the 600 are twenty students from P.E.I. who, despite the

fact that they will gain

no financial benefit from the occupation, are getting involved to give support.

Talks between the Govern- ment and the students are continuing with the occupat— ion being characterized by ; government concessions and student adamancy. The gov- ernment offered the students Advisory Groups consisting of Youth Minister Ouellet and a student from each of the province's universities. It would make reccomendations to cabinet in June.

However, last Thursday, the students overwhelmingly rejected the offer saying that since the committee wo— uld have no power to make decisions "the government is just continuing to give us the run—around."

Giles Beaulieu, one of the student negbtiators, said students want a firm committment for changes in the aid program, now, not in June. He said it would be difficult to alter the changes at that'late date if students found them un— ;§cceptable.

' So, as a counter propos- al, the students aid pro— gram '

So, as a counter—prop— osal the students told Mr. Ouellet they would form the committee immediately and make recommendations to the

\cabinet within a week. The_ students would stay until the cabinet acted on their reccommendations.

Earlier Ouellet admitted that all the students' dema— nds which include a lowering of the mandatory loan ceil- ing and an increase in grants fall withing provincial juri—

‘isdiction.

The government had previ— ously argued that no changes could be implemented until federal aid policies changed first. It now admits juris—

'3diction, but says there is fho money to implement the the $3.5 million reform pac— kage demanded by the students The 600 Occupying StUdentS,

V. across Canada.

however, say they intend to stay in the lobby of the go- ernment's Centennial Building which houses the NB cabinet and their department, until the government agrees to make imprOVements in the aid sys— tem effective September 1976.

To counter the government plea of poverty, occupation, organizers released a state— - ment February 1 condemning the government for "incompe—r tence" and citing a $10 mil- lion giveaway to a NB indus— try which went bankrupt, and the government's new $1.5 million leased aircraft among other examples of government mismanagement.

nutsme S‘IINW".

Meanwhile, support in the form of telegrams and pledges of money have been received from student organizations A The money is required to offset the $500 plus needed daily to feed the students and support the ocf cupation.

The Universite de Moncton students, who comprise about five of the six hundred occu— piers, used up the last of their student coundil funds over the weekend,'

NUS executive secretary Dan O'Connor, who has been in NB since the second day of the occupation, said student organization acrossthe coun- try have been asked to prov— ide whatever help they can.

The Ontario Federation of Students has already sent a three—person delegation to‘ NB as well as a $1000 contr— ibution. Atlantic schools are expected to contribute at least $500, and other or— ganizations are sOon expect— ed to announce their financ— ial support. ' ‘

illPEl Unsure

The U.P.E.I. Student U— nion is presently unsure of the means it will use to support the occupation al—_ though, according to Presi— dent 'Woozy MacDonald', ' there is no doubt that the support will be offered.

MacDonald at the present time is asking for suggest— ions of methods we could use to support the New Bru- nswickers and to fight our own struggle for a just aid policy on the Island.

llecting money for the occu— ; pation, and that BCSF agreed

to approach BC colleges and

universities for their supp-* ,ort. , Jim Gray, the student un- ion president at the Univer- sity of Regina, said he wou— ld call an emergency council meeting to get funds for the N.B. students, and agreed to co—ordinate fund-raising ac-

-tivities among Prairie school

O'Connor said.

Support willcontinue to mount O'Connor said " as long as the New Brunswick students are fighting for equitable

post-secondary education in /‘

this province. In the past few years students have seen that unless they work to re— move barriers to education such barriers as high tuit— ion, high loans and inadequ— ate facilities will multi— ply." _

He called on the NB gove— rnment to "show good faith towards the future generati- ons.in the province by moving to improve the present stud: ent aid program." He also/ :alled on the government to support publicly "a more acc- essible system across Canada" in the current round of fed— eral—provincial negotiations.

NIB. Support

_Although most of the stu— dents in the occupation are from the Universite de Monc— ton, other institutions are beginning to show greater ' support than when the occup- ation began on January 28.

» St. Thomas University in Fredericton>maintains a pres- ence of about 20 students at the occupation on a rotation. basis, and sentiment has been growing on the campus for a class boycott to support the student aid demands of the occupiers:

Shippegan College in the North—East part of the prov- ince have some pe0p1e in the occupation, but cannot afford

c..."..‘.........m...

buses to take the 100 student here to Fredericton. ‘They spent their funds busing to an earlier abortive ovvupat- ion attempt. I

The St. John's Campus of the UNB has pledged some

v financial support, but gave

no exact figure, and said they would attempt to send one busload of students to join the occupation.

And the UNB student co— uncil at Fredericton voted February 2 to provide $1000 to the occupation, following a speech by former UNB Stud- ent president Warren MacKen- zie chastising the council for failing to show leader- ship during the occuaption.

There are now some UNB s? udents at the oCcupation, mm others are calling for a ma% meeting to decide on whether to mount a boycott to support the occuaption. v