Lindsay Kines / Times Colonist

Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk denied Thursday that the provincial government has endorsed changes that will strip colleges and universities of money for teaching English as a second language.

Virk said in an interview that he and Jobs Minister Shirley Bond both wanted post-secondary schools to continue delivering ESL training to immigrants and domestic students, but that federal officials had other ideas.

“Our preference would be to retain the current funding model,” Virk said. “At no time have we endorsed a program that results in reduced funding for some of these critical ESL programs.”

The ministry revealed this week that colleges and universities will lose $17 million in federal funding that the schools use to deliver ESL programs.

Virk said Citizenship and Immigration Canada has decided to award contracts directly to non-profit and community groups as of April 1, rather than funnel it through the provincial government to schools.

Citizenship and Immigration said the provincial government supports the change, which brings B.C. in line with all other provinces except Quebec.

“We’ve actually done it with the agreement of the provincial government,” federal Immigration Minister Chris Alexander told CBC Radio’s On The Island Thursday. “I’ve been working very closely with Shirley Bond on this transition. She supports it. The premier supports it. The government has endorsed it, and they''ve been working with us on the transition.”

Virk said that’s simply not true. “I want to be clear that Minister Bond’s and my preference is to maintain the current model,” he said. “However, we are going to work with the federal government in the transition to the new model as well.”

The federal government says no final decisions have been made on who will get the new ESL contracts. But Virk said his ministry has learned that none of the applications by post-secondary institutions were successful.

His office told Camosun College that it will lose $2.5 million as a result. The school’s faculty association said that could result in 10 to 15 teachers losing their jobs and 200 to 300 students losing services.

Virk has insisted that students will continue to receive ESL training, but he’s unsure where or how that will happen.

“We certainly would like the federal government to provide that information to British Columbians as soon as possible,” he said.

NDP critic David Eby said the situation raises questions about competency of Virk’s office. “This is just the latest symptom of people not knowing what’s happening in this critical ministry,” he said.

“It’s a political problem, obviously, for the Liberals, but the real problem is that B.C. students — especially new British Columbians who are trying to get into the workforce — are going to be the victims of this incompetence. And that’s the real tragedy of it.

“I’d love to know what the transition plan is and what the final program would look like, but it seems like the minister of advanced education himself doesn’t know, and if he doesn’t know, I don’t know who would.”

lkines@timescolonist.com

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