For immediate release: Tuesday, May 6, 2003

CALGARY – Alberta Learning Minister Lyle Oberg will address a conference on post-secondary education organized by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees Thursday evening in Canmore.

Oberg will speak at 7:30 p.m. at the Chateau Canmore, 1720 Bow Valley Trail, and his remarks will be followed by a question and answer session with AUPE members and other conference participants.

"While there are always grounds for disagreement between governments and unions like AUPE, we hope through events like this to identify issues we can agree on and then find ways to achieve our common goals," said AUPE President Dan MacLennan, who will attend the conference, including Oberg’s remarks.

"As the representative of thousands of employees of post-secondary institutions, our union believes strongly in the importance of adequate public funding for public post-secondary education," MacLennan said. "Naturally, we hope to persuade the minister of this point of view.

"But we also want to foster a genuine debate at this conference so that we can all gain new insights into this important issue," MacLennan said.

The debate on how post-secondary education is best funded will be an important topic of the annual AUPE Education Sector Conference, which will run from Thursday, May 8, to Saturday, May 10. The theme of the 2003 conference is "Post-Secondary Education – Cost or Investment?"

The question of how post-secondary education should be financed will dominate sessions at the conference, with seminars and panels by educators, economists, union officials and other experts from throughout the political spectrum, said AUPE Union Representative Steve Nimchuk, who is organizing the conference.

CBC Radio One host Don Hill has agreed to moderate a panel and a radio broadcast on the question of whether public funding of post-secondary education is a cost or an investment for society.

The AUPE Education Sector Co-ordinating Committee has invited participants from many groups to attend the conference, Nimchuk said. In all, about 70 delegates and guests are expected to take part in the event.

Media are welcome to attend all sessions of the conference.

AUPE represents more than 7,500 non-academic employees of Alberta universities, colleges and technical institutes. These include the universities of Calgary, Lethbridge and Athabasca; Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Olds, Lakeland, Fairview, NorQuest, Bow Valley, Portage and Northern Lakes colleges; the Alberta College of Art and Design, and SAIT and NAIT.

For more information, contact:
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-910-8392 (cellular phone)
Steve Nimchuk, Union Representative, AUPE, 780-930-3341 or 780-919-4831 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)