I think the concern we have in the university sector in Nova Scotia--I have outlined some other issues--is the underrepresentation of disadvantaged groups in the universities. I've been teaching for twenty years. I have only had one Mi'kmaq student in that whole time. The number of Afro-Nova Scotian students is tiny in comparison to their actual numbers. I think what we have to have is some kind of funding that will actually address those questions of access and actually allow people to participate in the education system and allow them to get out of that poverty trap.
On October 24th, 2006. See this statement in context.