U of R president Vianne Timmons says signed FNUniv partnership agreement close

REGINA — A potential agreement that many hope will save the First Nations University of Canada appears to be causing some friction.

While University of Regina president Vianne Timmons insists a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on a new model that would see the U of R take over administrative and financial management of FNUniv is coming, Saskatchewan Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris is questioning the U of R's commitment to the partnership.

Norris and federal Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl are to meet Monday to discuss the future of the FNUniv and the possibility of both levels of government reinstating funding to the institution.

Norris said Thursday he had hoped to have a signed agreement between the FNUniv and the University of Regina to take to that meeting.

The Saskatchewan government has indicated it would be willing to reinstate its funding of $5 million to the FNUniv if cash was first filtered through the U of R in a formalized partnership, while the federal government has not changed its stance that $7.2 million in funding will not be renewed.

Timmons said Friday that while the partners are working to finalize the MOU, it is unreasonable for the governments to expect it to be ready by Monday — just six days after an agreement in principle was reached.

She's not convinced that the federal government should need anything in writing to consider funding the university anew, anyway.

"Minister Norris can go to Minister Strahl and say we have addressed all the accountability issues we were concerned about," said Timmons. "This new model the University of Regina has committed to addresses those. The province has said it has met all their requirements.

"I would hope that what's good enough for our provincial government, is good enough for our federal government. I don't think there's anything that we've been asked to do that we have not done. (The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations) has given up control over the financial control of the institution for a four-year period. The University of Regina has agreed to assume the shared management model. The FNUniv has agreed to this new partnership model."

But after hearing Timmons' comments on Friday, Norris questioned why an MOU had not yet been reached and accused the U of R of "dragging its feet" on issues surrounding financial liabilities that it will take on under the agreement.

"Without an agreement in hand, it is very difficult to have a focused discussion with Ottawa and, in fact, any number of stakeholders," said Norris. "This needs to go from being an idea into an agreement."

Timmons said the partners in the agreement had had difficulty getting together this past week but are to meet on Tuesday. She could not give a timeline as to when the MOU would be completed, but said she hoped it would be by the end of the month.

"I'm going to encourage both ministers to recognize that a whole new model of management for post-secondary institutions in this province — if we want to ensure it's done well — that takes reasonable time to pull together," said Timmons.

Norris indicated he would like to see the MOU completed "in days."

"The notion that there is pressure being exerted (by the government) is one that I have questions about," said Norris. "The pressure of timeline comes directly as we focus on ensuring that we're doing best for the students. Simply, we are running out of time."

Norris said he and Strahl will still go ahead with their meeting Monday.

tswitzer@leaderpost.canwest.com