A dramatic end to what the government calls this chapter. The province will no longer fund the First Nations University of Canada.
Speaking to media following a meeting with Cabinet, Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris strated "we have lost the confidence and the direction of this institution".
From April the province will no longer fund the FNUC. That amounts to roughly $5.2 million. Contingency money is in place to ensure students can finish the academic year. Norris maintains there was simply no other choice given everything that has gone on.
"One of the tipping points was the firing of Murray Westerlund [the fired Chief Financial Officer], certainly the allegations, the audit and thelate governance report just reinforced the point further."
Norris contends that students were at the forefront of his mind, that they deserved to attend an institution and get an education that didn't have "a cloud of suspicion over it."
But it is not clear at this point what role the University of Regina will have in working with students. Norris hopes other institutions like the SIAST and the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology will also offer any services required.
