Remembering Sister Andrea

Sister Andrea Dumont, the longest-serving religious in Thompson by far when she retired back to Ontario in mid-June to live with other members of her order in a residence in Toronto, at the insistence of her general superior, has died at the age of 86.

Originally from St. Catharines, Ontario. and a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto, Sister Andrea arrived in Thompson in 1991 and spent 29 years working here.

Her parents, William Dumont and Orienne Gauthier, were from Quebec.

Sister Andrea graduated as a registered nurse from St. Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing in Toronto in 1955. She worked as a nurse in Windsor and then at the emergency department and in the nursing service office at St. Joseph’s Hospital before seeing a notice from the sisters seeking volunteers for some missionary work, Thompson Citizen editor Ian Graham wrote May 28 in a nice piece on her impending retirement (https://www.thompsoncitizen.net/news/thompson/after-29-years-in-thompson-sister-andrea-dumont-returning-to-toronto-1.24143006).

Sister Andrea entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto in February 1956, and received the habit in August 1956. She made her final profession in August 1961 and celebrated her diamond jubilee in June 2016.

Sister Andrea spent 14 years in Guatemala until the mission closed and after returning to Canada lived in Grand Rapids, Easterville and Thompson, where the main focus of her work was in adult education, which included training lay presiders for times when there is no priest available, organizing and instructing in the various ministries, sacramental preparation and RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults). There are no parochial Catholic schools in the area. As well as Guatemala, the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto at one time also had foreign missions in Hong Kong, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nicaragua, Honduras and Haiti. They continue to serve in Honduras and Haiti.

In April 2015, she received the St. Joseph Award, the highest honour Catholic Missions in Canada bestows for outstanding missionary work. The Catholic Missions in Canada was founded in 1908 as The Catholic Church Extension Society of Canada. The organization comes to the aid of isolated missions across the country where a lack of resources makes it impossible to maintain a Catholic presence without outside financial help.

Sister Andrea’s order also included some of the same sisters – a fact I only learned here in Thompson years later – that taught some of my high school classes from September 1971 to June 1976, when Sister Conrad Lauber was principal, and Sister Dorothy Schweitzer taught me several English and math classes  at Oshawa Catholic High School (now Monsignor Paul Dwyer Catholic High School). Both Sister Conrad and Sister Dorothy, so it turned out, happened to be good friends of Sister Andrea.

About 10 years ago, I asked Father Eugene Whyte, then pastor of St. Lawrence Church here in Thompson, and a member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, about the prospects of a particular sister soon retiring. Without missing a beat, Father Eugene’s deadpan reply was, “Nuns don’t really retire, John. Ever.”

I wasn’t quite sure then that was quite literally true, but pretty darn close, I thought as I caught Father Eugene’s drift.

For my Catholic friends, it will come as no surprise for me to say there are at least two other truths in addition to non-retirement about Catholic nuns, always worth remembering: you don’t want to incur their wrath and you can never say “no” to a request from a sister, which usually is stated more in the form of a direction assuming compliance, than an actual question. Such, of course, was the case in my relationship with Sister Andrea.

In November 2010, I had Ryan Flanagan, a new reporter at the Thompson Citizen, which I was editing at the time, write a story on charitable organizations who sold homemade goodies at community events as fundraisers for their many good works. One of his stops that crisp fall Saturday morning was the St. Lawrence Pastoral Centre, where Sister Andrea and other volunteers were making their famous perogies for the upcoming Catholic Women’s League (CWL) Annual Christmas craft sale and raffle, scheduled to be held a few short weeks at St.. Lawrence Parish Hall, and the premier fundraising event of the year for the CWL.

Sure enough, Ryan, would wind up writing, “Among the guidelines are that the event must be registered with Public Health at least 14 working days before it begins, that the event operator must maintain a list of all vendors including contact information, and that any food qualifying as ‘potentially hazardous’ must be prepared and packaged in an approved establishment. Foods qualifying as ‘potentially hazardous’ include antipasto, cabbage rolls, chocolate (unless it has been heated as an ingredient in, for example, chocolate chip cookies), coleslaw, pastries filled with cream or custard, dairy products, fish, garlic spreads, homemade soups, meat or meat products, perogies, pickled eggs, pumpkin pie or any pie with meringue, salsa, ungraded eggs, and whipped butter. None of these foods can be sold unless they were prepared in a facility that has been approved by the province as a food handling establishment” (https://www.thompsoncitizen.net/news/thompson/strict-public-health-rules-in-place-for-volunteer-groups-food-and-bake-sales-1.1368718).

I found myself in Sister Andrea’s “if-looks-could-kill” deep freeze for several months. The gradual thaw came a few months later, as Father Eugene made a point of being extra nice to me (no small feat perhaps, as Father Eugene’s opinion of the media wasn’t so very removed from Sister Andrea’s in general, as I recall, from our many conversations) when Sister Andrea and I were sharing the same space, such as reaching extra far to shake my hand when he was processing at the beginning of mass and I was standing near the end of a pew, perhaps suggesting to Sister Andrea that despite apparent evidence to the contrary, I might not be quite beyond redemption.

Sister Andrea, of course, forgave me in time, which is what sisters do. Within a couple of years she was swapping movie lists with Jeanette and I.

She may have also had the last laugh, as it were, a few years later, although she was also may have just been being practical and solving a problem on the fly on short notice. Or a little of both maybe.

In May 2013, The Christophers, a non-profit organization founded in 1945 by Maryknoll Father James Keller, were in Thompson to offer a Christopher leadership course. The ancient Chinese proverb – “it’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness” – guides the organization’s programs. The name of the group is derived from the Greek word “christophoros,” which means “Christ-bearer.”

The Christopher leadership courses teaches participants speaking skills to organize ideas an think on their feet; conquer shyness or fear of public-speaking; speak with conviction and “captivate” their audience; and effectively express themselves in business, socially, in the community and in the larger world.

The New York City-based Christophers emerged in the wake of the Second World War, with the rapid dawn soon after of the Cold War, as periodic historical suspicions of Roman Catholic loyalties in the United States re-emerged in the public conspicuousness. In response, a number of Roman Catholics began to find new ways of commending the Church to the public, including the new medium of television. The most popular and influential television presentation was The Christophers, a weekly half-hour program aired on ABC beginning in 1945. The Christophers, as Keller, from Oakland, California envisioned it, would have no formal organization, no memberships, and no dues. “The reason for this somewhat unusual formula,” he explained, “was to focus attention on personal responsibility.”

The wrap-up to the Thompson Christopher leadership course seven years ago was to be held on Saturday, May 4, and was to feature a keynote speech from Archbishop Sylvain Lavoie, who had just recently become the most recent archbishop emeritus of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas.  However, plans changed at the last minute, and His Grace was unable to keep the speaking engagement.

Sister Andrea telephoned me around mid-afternoon on Friday, May 3 in my office at the paper. And that was how I came to fill in with less than 24 hours notice for the archbishop – a sad disappointment I’m sure to unsuspecting participants – as the keynote speaker for the wrap-up session.

I’m not sure, but I could swear I saw a grin on Sister Andrea’s face, as I mercifully finished up, and heard from somewhere above me a good-natured celestial “got you.”

The last time I wrote about Sister Andrea until today was in an email I sent to Thompson Mayor Colleen Smook May 30:

“I was thinking about the departure of Sister Andrea next month back to Toronto, after being recalled at the age of 86, after 29 years in Thompson  by her religious order, the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto, and it occurred to me that I could think of no one any worthier to receive a Key to the City of Thompson than Sister Andrea. I also know it is an infrequently bestowed honour, but having known several of the previous recipients over the last decade – Dr. Alan Rich, when he departed for Swan River in 2014, and provincial court Judge Murray Thompson, and his wife, Linda Webstob, when they moved to Winnipeg the same year – left me thinking  Sister Andrea would be in good company with those keyholders of high character and purpose, and vice versa.”

I don’t know if the City of Thompson has ever awarded a Key to the City posthumously, but I think, if not, Sister Andrea would still be a good candidate for one, after touching so many lives, Catholic and non-Catholic, during her 29 years of service in Thompson, Manitoba.

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University College of the North: $1.3 million in funding slashed over two fiscal years

University College of the North (UCN) has lost $1.3 million in external funding over the last two fiscal years, says Dan Smith, vice-president academic and research.

“What many people may not realize,” Smith said May 12, “is that in the last fiscal year, that’s the 18/19 fiscal year, the University College of the North lost $400,000 in its grant, plus $500,000 in funding that was dedicated to access programing. To add that to the 19/20 budgetary decisions that saw UCN lose another $400,000 for a total loss over two years of $1.3 million dollars. That’s a lot of money.”

Smith said UCN President and Vice-Chancellor Doug Lauvstad has made the “specific commitment” not to recoup that $1.3 million either through staff layoffs or increased tuition fees for students. Instead, Smith said, UCN has managed to “contain” that “$1.3 million loss” in lost external  revenue through some “internal restructuring,” including doing what might seem like minor things, he said, but which can really add up in cost. The example he cited was promoting the use of UCN fleet vehicles rather than employees using their personal private vehicles and being reimbursed for mileage by the school to travel when necessary between campuses and post secondary access centres, known until recently as regional centres. The two campuses in The Pas and Thompson are almost 400 kilometres by road and four hours apart.

UCN also has 12 regional post-secondary access centres operated through community partnerships in Flin Flon, Churchill, Swan River, Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake), Tataskweyak Cree Nation (Split Lake), Chemawawin Cree Nation (Easterville), Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (Nelson House), Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (Pukatawagan), Norway House Cree Nation, Misipawistik Cree Nation (Grand Rapids), Bunibonibee Cree Nation (Oxford House), and St. Theresa Point First Nation.

Smith also noted that Lynette Plett, whose appointment was announced March 12, will be UCN’s first associate vice-president of access for the newly-created access department within the academic and research division. Plett, who is based on The Pas campus, began working at UCN May 6. She comes from a Mennonite Anabaptist tradition, and grew up on a rural farm in Manitoba.

While the shape of the access department under Plett’s leadership is a work-in-progress, Smith said he has asked her to focus on building he department and begin developing a strategy around access and accessibility to post-secondary programs at UCN, including essential skills and upgrading.

Plett joined the University College of the North after more than a decade working for the provincial government. During her time in Manitoba Education and Training, Plett led adult learning and literacy, the branch responsible for adult learning centres, and most recently served as senior executive director of skills and employment partnerships.

The University College of the North marks its 15th anniversary being known as such this coming Monday.

UCN is the successor of Keewatin Community College as the main post-secondary education institution in Northern Manitoba. Keewatin Community College was established in 1966. Its Thompson campus was created in the early 1980s.

The University College of the North came into existence on June 10, 2004 when the University College of the North Act received royal assent. Keewatin Community College, as established by Section 2 of the Colleges Establishment Regulation, Manitoba Regulation 39/93, was continued as the university college.

From the outset, UCN was set up to provide “post-secondary education in a culturally sensitive and collaborative manner” that “is fundamental to the social and economic development of Northern Manitoba.”

UCN has the power to grant degrees, honourary degrees, certificates and diplomas.

The act also stipulates “post-secondary education in Northern Manitoba should be learner and community centered and characterized by a culture of openness, inclusiveness and tolerance and respectful of aboriginal and Northern values and beliefs.”

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Workplace skills development and certificate programs outpace degree and diploma options in record UCN enrolment

University College of the North (UCN) said March 26 that it reached a record enrolment of 2,699 registered students at the end of February, mainly do to the “incredible” growth of workplace skills development training and certificate programs. Growth was particularly strong at UCN’s 12 regional post-secondary access centres, and other off-site locations, but less so at the two main campuses in The Pas and Thompson, and less so also in the areas of degree and diploma post-secondary education, which often take longer to complete than workplace skills development and certificate training. The school said it plans to focus on “increases in degree and diploma program enrolment” next academic year.

Workplace skills development, which supports industry needs, saw enrolment increase by 344 per cent, growing from 168 students as of Feb. 28, 2018 to 746 students at the end of February.

Overall enrolment between Feb. 28, 2018 and Feb. 28, 2019 increased by 20.4 per cent on The Pas campus and by 39.7 per cent at the Thompson campus, UCN says, although it did not provide the most recent actual raw numbers for the two campuses. However, last September the school said there were 190 full-time students registered on its Thompson campus and 298 full-time students registered on The Pas campus. Six months ago, another 127 UCN students were registered part-time on the Thompson campus, bringing the total number of students here to 317 then. In The Pas, there were 151 additional part-time students, bringing their total to 449.

The two campuses are almost 400 kilometres by road and four hours apart.

An additional 258 students as of last September were registered at UCN’s 12 regional post-secondary access centres operated through community partnerships in Flin Flon, Churchill, Swan River, Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake), Tataskweyak Cree Nation (Split Lake), Chemawawin Cree Nation (Easterville), Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (Nelson House), Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (Pukatawagan), Norway House Cree Nation, Misipawistik Cree Nation (Grand Rapids), Bunibonibee Cree Nation (Oxford House), and St. Theresa Point First Nation. There were 205 full-time students registered at the dozen regional centres and 53 part-time students registered as of last September.

Workplace skills development accounted for 578 additional students at the end of February, with the balance of enrolment increases occurring in certificate programs. Enrolment in all of UCN’s certificate programs grew by 39.2 per cent, led by a 95.6 per cent increase in students enrolled in the health care aid certificate program, and a 115.2 per cent increase in enrolment in the educational assistant certificate program.

“Our enrolment growth reflects UCN’s commitment to increase engagement with industry and with northern communities,” said Dan Smith, vice-president academic and research at UCN.

“Our efforts have paid off with exceptional growth in industry-related and community-delivered programming, and next year we add a focus on increases in degree and diploma program enrolment,” Smith added.

Final enrolment numbers for the 2018/19 academic year will be available after June, UCN said.

The 2018 Manitoba Colleges Review found that UCN needed to do more to meet the needs of employers in contributing to labour force development in the North and do more to meet the needs of Indigenous and Northern communities.

Higher Education Strategies Associates’ mandate was to undertake a review of the five post-secondary institutions in Manitoba that offer college-level programs: Assiniboine Community College, the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology, Red River College, Université de Saint-Boniface and University College of the North, or UCN as its just as often abbreviated to and known as.

The Toronto-based consultant said in its Government of Manitoba: Manitoba College Review System-Wide Report that UCN was projecting a $1.8 million deficit in 2018-2019. “Based on its current projections and without the increase in revenues, UCN projects a deficit in the next three academic years, of: $1.2 million in 2017-2018; $1.8 million in 2018-2019; and $2.3 million in 2019-2020,” Usher and Pelletier wrote. “As UCN recognizes that it is not able to run a deficit, management decisions may be needed to reduce expenditures.”

Last fall, UCN reorganized its senior administration by reducing its four vice-presidents, who reported to president Doug Lauvstad, to one vice-president of academic and research and a chief administrative officer. None of the incumbents in the positions eliminated were laid off or otherwise lost their jobs, and most are still working for UCN in some capacity.

The provincial government asked for the review, co-authored by Alex Usher and Yves Y. Pelletier,  in 2016 and it was undertaken between November 2016 and November 2017. At the end of last May, Pelletier, at the invitation of UCN,  returned to lead an initiative to ensure the alignment of administrative structures in order for the senior executive to be able to achieve their goals and objectives.

The report also said the current role of the Council of Elders extends beyond the legislative advisory intention of the June 10, 2004 University College of the North Act and that UCN is “perceived as having a tri-cameral governing structure,” including the Governing Council and Learning Council also, which is “unique and problematic within a modern university context.” It recommends the Governing Council govern and that it ensure the role of the Council of Elders is advisory, as per the original legislative intent, it says, of almost 14 years ago.

In launching the review, the Progressive Conservative government of Premier Brian Pallister, elected in April 2016,  set out five objectives: to develop forward looking system-wide strategic directions and a proactive, co-ordinated, systemic approach to college education; to enable the college system to improve outcomes for students, including indigenous students, with improved completion and employment rates; to strengthen labour market alignment and responsiveness to labour market need; to improve governance and sustainability of the college system with lean, efficient and effective administration and operations; and to further promote innovation, collaboration and partnership opportunities within the college system and with industry partners.

UCN has more than 330 employees, including full-time, part-time and contract employees.

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Dr. Alan Rich, who served longer than any other doctor in Thompson, has passed away

Thompson’s best-loved doctor has passed away.

The legendary, and at times controversial, Dr. Alan Rich, who still holds the record as Thompson’s longest-serving physician, having practiced medicine here for more than 40 years, died earlier today.

Dr. Rich, who died in Swan River, was 73. There will be visitation at the Boardman/Northland Funeral Home at 28 Nelson Rd. here in Thompson, Manitoba next Sunday evening on Jan. 27 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The funeral service will follow next Monday morning at 10 a.m. on Jan. 28 at St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Church at 114 Cree Rd. in Thompson. Internment will be at Thompson Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Dr. Rich’s memory to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Canada, a registered charity founded in 1983, which helps children with critical and life-threatening illnesses live out their biggest wishes. The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Canada granted 615 wishes to Canadian children with life-threatening illnesses in 2017, spending an average of $13,268 per wish granted. Their charitable registration number is 89526 9173 RR0001 and their address is Make-A-Wish Foundation of Canada, 4211 Yonge St.,  Suite 520, Toronto, Ontario, M2P 2A9. Their website can be found at http://www.makeawish.ca

Sent packing from Thompson General Hospital into retirement in 2011 after a high-profile dispute with two other doctors on the old Burntwood Regional Health Authority (BRHA) medical staff, just three years later he was presented with the Key to the City of Thompson on Oct. 6, 2014, the city’s highest and infrequently bestowed honour, by then Mayor Tim Johnston and then Coun. Stella Locker, a registered nurse, who was council’s longest-serving member at the time. Dr. Rich had moved to Swan River a number of years ago.

“Al, from me to you, I want to say thank you for your commitment, thank you for your dedication, and I am happy to say that no one has played more of an important role in the health care of Thompsonites, and Northerners, than Dr. Alan Rich. You are to be thanked for the commitment you made,” the mayor said at the awards ceremony at city hall in 2014.

Even after his departure from Thompson General Hospital, Dr. Rich continued to practice medicine for quite a while from both from his office in the Professional Building on Selkirk Avenue, where he had been a long-time tenant of J.B. Johnston Ventures Limited, Tim Johnston’s family property holding company, and in his new home in Swan River, where Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) granted him hospital privileges at Swan River Valley Hospital. Born and raised in Thompson, Tim Johnston, of course, is the son of Dr. Blain Johnston, a former city councillor who was the first regular, full-time doctor in Thompson.

Dr. Rich graduated from the University of Saskatchewan as a doctor of medicine on May 13, 1971. He started practicing medicine in Thompson the following year, after completing his residency internship at Queen Elizabeth Hospital of Montreal in June 1972. Over the course of his long medical career, Rich worked as a general practitioner, worked in CancerCare, was an anesthetist, oversaw dialysis, and worked as a medical examiner. Dr. Rich had originally arrived in Thompson from Saskatchewan as a summer student to work underground at Inco. He hoped to make enough money working in the mines during summers to put himself through medical school, which he did. In Saskatchewan, Dr. Rich as a young man, had worked on the Herriman family farm in Creelman, southeast of Regina. He returned to Thompson to open up his practice after graduating. Dr. Rich was also a high-calibre judo competitor, coaching and training judo practitioners, as well as serving as team physician for the Thompson Hawks, a senior amateur men’s hockey team. Their best season was in 1974-75 when they won the Edmonton Journal Trophy (Western Canada Intermediate Championship) but lost in the Hardy Cup Championship (Canadian Intermediate A Championship) that season to the Moncton Bears, the Eastern Canada champions.

On April 9, 2013, he was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, created to mark the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty’s accession to the throne, by Swan River Mayor Glen McKenzie.  “It was a surprise,” Twyla Machan, editor of the local Swan Valley Star & Times, quoted Rich as saying in receiving the award. “In Thompson, I was on the wrong side of political decisions, but I am a doctor with no limitations.” Discussing his move to Swan River where he set up a practice, Rich told the Star & Times he was enjoying it there. “It’s a lot of fun. This is a very good place. I retired here, and I will spend the rest of my days here I think.”

Dr. Rich always provoked strong feelings among Thompson residents, many of whom he delivered. He was legendary for making house calls or dropping by unannounced after an 18 or 20-hour day at the hospital and his office because he was concerned how a patient was doing and wanted to check in on them. He had a knack for identifying what was ailing someone when other doctors may not have been able to put their finger on the problem so quickly, as his many loyal patients attested to  over the years. He may have even saved the odd cherished pet along the way, but there is no official record of such.

While some found the bearded Dr. Rich, clad in his leather motorcycle jacket and jeans, which he was attired in when he picked up the Key to the City of Thompson in 2014, a tad brusque in his bedside manner, folks in this hardrock nickel mining town generally liked his no-BS plain-speaking ways.  Besides, his YellowPages ad did say he was “friendly, courteous and understanding.” If he had his eccentricities, don’t we all? Live and let live is a way of life in the North.

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University College of the North has 190 full-time students registered on Thompson campus

University College of the North has 190 full-time students registered on its Thompson campus, Dan Smith, vice-president of academic and research, reported Sept. 19. There are 298 full-time students registered on The Pas campus.

Another 127 UCN students are registered part-time on the Thompson campus, bringing the total number of students here to 317. In The Pas, there are 151 additional part-time students, bringing their total to 449. The two campuses are almost 400 kilometres by road and four hours apart.  An additional 258 students are registered at 12 UCN regional facilities operated through community partnerships in Flin Flon, Churchill, Swan River, Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake), Tataskweyak Cree Nation (Split Lake), Chemawawin Cree Nation (Easterville), Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (Nelson House), Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (Pukatawagan), Norway House Cree Nation, Misipawistik Cree Nation (Grand Rapids), Bunibonibee Cree Nation (Oxford House), and St. Theresa Point First Nation. There are 205 full-time students registered at the dozen regional centres and 53 part-time students registered.

Total University College of the North enrolment at the two main campuses and regional centres stood at 1,024 students, 693 full time and 331 part time as of Monday.

By way of a fairly recent comparison, in the 2015-16 academic year, UCN had a full-time equivalent enrolment of 604 university and 564 college students for a total of 1,168. University program enrolment has grown 47 per cent since the 2011-12 academic year, while college student enrolment grew 17 per cent over the same period and overall enrolment by 31 per cent.

Last March 19, Higher Education Strategy Associates of Toronto said in its Government of Manitoba: Manitoba College Review System-Wide Report that UCN was projecting a $1.8 million deficit in 2018-2019. The provincial government asked for the review, co-authored by Alex Usher and Yves Y. Pelletier,  in 2016 and it was undertaken between November 2016 and November 2017. At the end of last May, Pelletier, at the invitation of UCN,  returned to lead an initiative to ensure the alignment of administrative structures in order for the senior executive to be able to achieve their goals and objectives.

Pelletier also benchmarked UCN’s allocation of human resources by functional areas with those at two or three similar institutions offering a broad suite of post-secondary programs and serving vast geographical areas through networks of campuses and regional delivery sites.

Enrolment on the two main campuses in The Pas and Thompson, as of Sept. 17, had increased by almost 5.7 per cent – from 725 students at this time last year to 766, as of Monday. Comparable information from the 12 regional centres  from this time last year is not available, Smith said.

“Institutional Research and the Office of the Registrar will both tell us that these numbers are preliminary and are subject to change – and they are correct,” Smith said. “The official numbers will become available in about six weeks after the voluntary withdrawal date. At that time, we’ll have a more solid sense of how enrolment is evolving this year. ”

UCN has more than 300 full-time employees, along with additional part-time and contract employees.

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UCN projects a deficit of $1.2 million in 2017-2018, according to college review

 

 

 

As both its 2017-2018 fiscal year and the current four-year collective agreement between the Governing Council of University College of the North (UCN) and the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union (MGEU) come to an end in five days on March 31, UCN is projecting a deficit of $1.2 million in 2017-2018, Higher Education Strategy Associates of Toronto said in its Government of Manitoba: Manitoba College Review System-Wide Report, released March 19. The provincial government asked for the review, co-authored by Alex Usher and Yves Y. Pelletier,  in 2016 and it was undertaken between November 2016 and November 2017.

UCN senior management and the Governing Council are currently working on the 2018-19 fiscal year budget.

The report also said the current role of the Council of Elders extends beyond the legislative advisory intention of the June 10, 2004 University College of the North Act and that UCN is “perceived as having a tri-cameral governing structure,” including the Governing Council and Learning Council also, which is “unique and problematic within a modern university context.” It recommends the Governing Council govern and that it ensure the role of the Council of Elders is advisory, as per the original legislative intent, it says, of almost 14 years ago.

Higher Education Strategies Associates’ mandate was to undertake a review of the five post-secondary institutions in Manitoba that offer college-level programs: Assiniboine Community College, the Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology, Red River College, Université de Saint-Boniface and University College of the North, or UCN as its just as often abbreviated to and known as.

In launching the review, the Progressive Conservative government of Premier Brian Pallister, elected in April 2016,  set out five objectives: to develop forward looking system-wide strategic directions and a proactive, co-ordinated, systemic approach to college education; to enable the college system to improve outcomes for students, including indigenous students, with improved completion and employment rates; to strengthen labour market alignment and responsiveness to labour market need; to improve governance and sustainability of the college system with lean, efficient and effective administration and operations; and to further promote innovation, collaboration and partnership opportunities within the college system and with industry partners.

Usher, president of Higher Education Strategy Associates,  is a former director of Educational Policy Institute Canada (EPI Canada), where he managed the “Measuring the Effectiveness of Student Aid Project” for the Millennium Scholarship Foundation, a four-year $4 million research project to investigate the long-term effects of student aid, and is the author of the project’s final report, published in 2010.

Pelletier, a former assistant deputy minister for post-secondary education in New Brunswick, is a senior consultant with London-Ontario-based Academica.

“Based on its current projections and without the increase in revenues, UCN projects a deficit in the next three academic years, of: $1.2 million in 2017-2018; $1.8 million in 2018-2019; and $2.3 million in 2019-2020,” Usher and Pelletier write. “As UCN recognizes that it is not able to run a deficit, management decisions may be needed to reduce expenditures.”

The Manitoba Colleges Review, the shorthand name for the Higher Education Strategies Associates’ report, makes 11 specific recommendations “designed to help strengthen UCN,” the school said in a March 19 news release reacting to the report, “and more than a dozen recommendations regarding Manitoba’s overall college system. ”

The eleventh and final recommendation is that “UCN should clarify the role and responsibility of the Council of Elders, established in Section 16 of the University College of the North Act. The legislation currently notes in Section 16 (2) that: ‘The Council of Elders is to promote an environment at the university college that respects and embraces Aboriginal and northern cultures and values. The Council of Elders is also to promote an understanding of the role of elders within the university college.’

“While their mandate is clear, the Council of Elders has been operating as a third decision-making body of equal standing to the Governing Council and the Learning Council. The role and responsibilities of the Elders Council should be clarified by the Governing Council, who set the duties of the Council of Elders, as per by-law 16 (3). The Governing Council should ensure that the Council of Elders advise on community needs and student supports.”

In their concluding  chapter on the section of the 206-page report devoted to UCN, Usher and Pelletier write: “Through our various qualitative and quantitative measures, we have heard many stories regarding UCN, with many being less encouraging than at other institutions. Over the past decade, since it was given the power to develop and deliver university programming, the number of college programs offered has declined, while enrolments at the college level have been modest. This occurred during a period when the North was undergoing significant economic expansion due to high commodity prices which in turn led to labour shortages in areas where college-level training is required. This was a badly missed opportunity.”

Elsewhere in the report, Usher and Pelletier write: “Administrative decisions have led to a decrease in the number of college-level programs during this 10-year period, from 44 programs offered in 2006-2007 compared to 28 programs in 2015-2016, despite a doubling of its operating budget and a 17 per cent increase in college-level FLE enrolments.”

The transformation of the “former Keewatin Community College into the University College of the North did not have to entail a drop in college-level programming and seems set by management direction. There appears to be consensus, both from industry and community leaders, that UCN suffered from a lack of public engagement, that it was unresponsive in dealing with stakeholders and in some cases stumbled when trying to meet community needs … the current economic condition of the province’s North suggests that many of the trades and colleges skills which were in shortage for much of the past decade are no longer in shortage. UCN should not spend time re-litigating what should have happened in the last decade: it needs to be focused on future needs and it is by no means self-evident that the demand for college-level skills will be higher than that for university-level skills in the next decade.”

Tom Goodman, chair of UCN’s Governing Council, is quoted in the school’s March 19 news release responding to the report as saying, “UCN is committed to working with the Government of Manitoba and other colleges to address the review’s recommendations. UCN will make changes to strengthen our responsiveness to communities and to industry and will make the changes necessary to ensure that we continue to provide the highest quality education to Northerners. We will be taking immediate steps to begin to implement these recommendations.”

Goodman, who lives in the Flin Flon area, is a former senior vice-president and chief operating officer with Hudbay Minerals. He was appointed chair of the Governing Council by the province by order-in-council last April 12, with the appointment announced by Education and Training Minister Ian Wishart.

“This report makes clear that UCN has much work to do,” said Doug Lauvstad, president and vice-chancellor of University College of the North, in the same news release. “UCN is a young institution that has grown quickly since it was first established in 2004. We need to consider the findings of the review, and take the necessary steps to ensure that we can continue to support social and economic development in the North.”

UCN announced last June 23 that Lauvstad, of The Pas, would  take over last Aug. 1 as president and vice-chancellor, succeeding Konrad Jonasson, appointed president and vice-chancellor in June 2012, who retired.

Lauvstad had been serving as the executive director of the Northern Manitoba Sector Council, an association of the region’s largest industrial sectors of mining, forestry and energy. He had worked previously in a senior administration role with UCN and its predecessor, Keewatin Community College, from 1988 to 2007, and holds a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) graduate degree.

UCN operates two main campuses in The Pas and Thompson and 12 regional facilities operated through community partnerships in Flin Flon, Churchill, Swan River, Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake), Tataskweyak Cree Nation (Split Lake), Chemawawin Cree Nation (Easterville), Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (Nelson House), Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (Pukatawagan), Norway House Cree Nation, Misipawistik Cree Nation (Grand Rapids), Bunibonibee Cree Nation (Oxford House), and St. Theresa Point First Nation.

The number of full-time equivalent (FTE) university and college students at UCN grew from 894 FTEs in 2011-2012 to 1,168 students in2015-2016, the report said. The percentage of Indigenous students in base-funded university programs continued to increase, from 67 per cent in 2011-2012 to 74 per cent in 2015-16. The number of Indigenous students in base-funded college programs has fallen from 79 per cent to 68 per cent over the same period “The average age of the college student at UCN is 27, a consistent age throughout the last five years,” the report notes.

UCN has about 394 full-time employees, along with additional part-time and contract employees.

The full report can be found at: http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/docs/manitoba_college_review.pdf

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Dr. Alan Rich, the city’s longest-serving physician, sent packing into retirement in 2011, presented with the Key to the City of Thompson

Dr. Alan Rich, left, receiving the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal last year in Swan River. Photo courtesy of Twyla Machan, Swan Valley Star & Times; Right a YellowPages ad for Dr.Rich’s office in the Professional Building in Thompson.

Thompson’s legendary, and at times controversial, Dr. Alan Rich, the city’s longest-serving physician who was sent packing from Thompson General Hospital into retirement in 2011 after a high-profile dispute with two other doctors on the medical staff, was presented with the Key to the City of Thompson Oct. 6, the city’s highest and infrequently bestowed honour,  by Mayor Tim Johnston and Coun. Stella Locker, a registered nurse and council’s longest-serving member.

Rich has always provoked strong feelings among Thompson residents, many of whom he delivered. He was legendary for making house calls or dropping by unannounced after an 18 or 20-hour day at the hospital and his office because he was concerned how a patient was doing and wanted to check in on them. He had a knack for identifying what was ailing someone when other doctors may not have been able to put their finger on the problem so quickly, as his many loyal patients attested to  over the years. He may have even saved the odd cherished pet along the way, but there is no official record of such.

While some found the bearded Dr. Rich, clad in his leather motorcycle jacket and jeans, which he was attired in Monday night to pick up the Key to the City of Thompson, a tad brusque in his bedside manner, folks in this hardrock nickel mining town generally liked his no-BS plain-speaking ways.  Besides, his YellowPages ad did say he was “friendly, courteous and understanding.” If he had his eccentricities, don’t we all? Live and let live is a way of life in the North.

Rich, a graduate of McGill University faculty of medicine in Montreal, began practicing medicine in Thompson in September 1972.  Over the course of his long medical career, Rich has worked as a general practitioner, worked in CancerCare, was an anesthetist, oversaw dialysis, and worked as a medical examiner. On April 9, 2013, he was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal,  created to mark the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty’s accession to the throne, by Swan River Mayor Glen McKenzie.  “It was a surprise,” Twyla Machan, editor of the local Swan Valley Star & Times, quoted Rich as saying in receiving the award. “In Thompson, I was on the wrong side of political decisions, but I am a doctor with no limitations.” Discussing his move to Swan River where he set up a practice, Rich told the Star & Times he was enjoying it there. “It’s a lot of fun. This is a very good place. I retired here, and I will spend the rest of my days here I think.”

Rich’s 39-year career with the old Burntwood Regional Health Authority (BRHA) ended badly after a high profile dispute with Dr. Hisham Tassi, an internist, and Dr. Hussam Azzam, vice-president of medical services.

Tassi and Azzam filed complaints against Rich in relation to his behavior and comments in earlier meetings with them, which they said had been inappropriate.  The complaint by Azzam stemmed from a Jan. 13, 2011 meeting between Azzam, acting in his capacity as the vice-president of medical services, regional chief of staff and chair of the BRHA medical advisory committee (MAC), and Rich during which, Azzam alleged, Rich shouted and pointed his finger at Azzam.

“I strongly feel that Dr. Rich’s behavior and comments were inappropriate, abusive, slanderous and defamatory,” Azzam wrote in a letter of complaint to BRHA chief executive officer Gloria King.
Tassi’s complaint concerned an Aug. 24, 2010 meeting between Tassi and Rich. During that meeting, Tassi alleged, Rich informed Tassi that he would be acting as a witness for a patient who had filed a complaint with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba (CPSM). The college does not provide information about complaints it receives unless disciplinary action is taken. It has never provided information suggesting Tassi has been subject to disciplinary action.

The BRHA medical advisory committee’s complaint resolution sub-committee – which at the time consisted of chair Dr. Christoffel Vermaak, Dr. Gabriel Anid, Dr. Eman Yousif, Dr. Ginette Poulin and Dr. Wali Kassem –  heard submissions and questioned witnesses on the matter and the full medical advisory committee (MAC) then considered the case on May 31, 2011 after earlier attempts at informal resolution failed. Rich had offered to apologize to Azzam but disagreed over what form the apology would take.

The BRHA’s position was that they did not initially request that Rich retire, but rather that his  retirement was discussed by counsel for the parties and an agreement was ultimately reached.

Rich continued to practice medicine from his office in the Professional Building on Selkirk Avenue, where he had been a long-time tenant of J.B. Johnston Ventures Limited, Mayor Johnston’s family property holding company, and in Swan River, where Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) granted him hospital privileges at Swan River Valley Hospital. Born and raised in Thompson, Tim Johnston is the son of Dr. Blain Johnston, a former city councillor who was the first regular, full-time doctor in Thompson.

A year after the Rich saga, the Thompson-based BRHA was merged by the province with the NOR-MAN Regional Health Authority (NRHA) in Flin Flon, with the single entity being re-named as the Northern Regional Health Authority (NRHA) and has maintained a fairly low public profile and largely, especially in Thompson, stayed out of headline-making controversies.

The Northern Regional Health Authority covers about 61 per cent of Manitoba’s landmass and provide primary health care services for some 73,000 people – or about six per cent of the province’s population. Excluding hamlets, cottage settlements and Saskatchewan towns near the Manitoba border, the new NRHA provides health care services to 46 communities in an area bounded roughly by The Pas in the southwest to St. Theresa Point in the southeast and everything north to the Nunavut boundary at the 60th parallel – with the exception of Churchill, with the tiny Churchill Regional Health Authority merged two years ago with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, as the two bodies were already closely connected, the province said.

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