On Monday, student leaders from across British Columbia gathered at the legislature in Victoria to lobby the government ahead of a review launched by the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills.Among those in attendance was UBC AMS VP External Solomon Yi-Kieran.After returning from Vancouver Island, they spoke with the Western Standard about how things went, and what they expect to see going forward..Yi-Kieran called on the government to extend the SkyTrain to UBC, implement $10 student rates on BC Ferries, provide a student food security grant to ensure everyone has access to meals, and protect the province's existing 2% domestic tuition increase cap.They said the reception was "positive," especially when it came to the discounted ferry rates and food program..Perhaps most consequential, however, was the tuition cap. When asked during Question Period on Wednesday whether it would still be in place following her review, Post-Secondary Education Minister Jessie Sunner refused to commit to protecting it."Everything is on the table in the government's new review," Yi-Kieran said, making it clear that a review and new policy that doesn't protect the 2% cap "isn't a neutral policy choice" and "will get rid of access to education for a lot of working and middle-class people."The last time the BC government removed the cap was in 2002. As a result, tuition rates nearly doubled before it was brought back three years later."I don't think I'd be able to attend university if my tuition was to double," Yi-Kieran explained. "I don't think a lot of my friends, a lot of my classmates would either, so it's really important that we keep protecting it — and we will.".Sunner has claimed that due to budget constraints, the province simply does not have the resources to provide more money for post-secondary education. Yi-Kieran pointed out that the government's position on providing financial support has shifted dramatically over the years.."In 1979, 90% of post-secondary budgets were funded by the provincial government," Yi-Kieran said. "Now, in 2025, only about 33% of operational funding does come from the government."They lamented that much of that burden was "shifted onto students — especially international students.""We really built a system that was reliant on gouging a lot of students to fund our post-secondary institutions," Yi-Kieran noted. "At the end of the day that isn't sustainable when you have a shifting geo-political environment, when you have a government that has started to cut the amount of international students allowed to study in Canada."They called on the provincial government to "step up recommit to those older funding models.".Yi-Kieran added that it would be nice to see Canada follow other countries' lead and offer free tuition at "fully-funded" universities and colleges."Investing in post-secondary education is something that actually lets you build a stronger economy," they said..Yi-Kieran concluded by urging the BC government not to rush through its review, and actually take the time to listen to stakeholders."The previous review in 2022 had a year-and-a-half time frame to happen, and never ended up being released; it had months and months of consultation," they said. "This upcoming review is expected to happen between December and March. That is not enough time for genuine consultation with student unions, with universities, with unions, and workers.".Yi-Kieran argued that "at the end of the day, this doesn't feel like a genuine attempt to look at holistically analyze the issues in the post-secondary sector," and instead "feels a lot more like it's trying to find a justification for pre-determined solutions.""It feels in a lot of ways like a performative action, and that's not something that as the people that will be affected by this, as students, I think we can be very happy about," they said. "So in addition to pushing to protect the 2% tuition cap policy, we also want to really make sure that this review will actually be comprehensive and actually take the amount of time to consult all of the people who will be impacted by it."
