New advanced education minister appointed

author: kristian ferguson | news editor

credit: ella mikola

Amidst scandals and cabinet changes, new faces appear

Bronwyn Eyre was recently appointed as the new Minister of Advanced Education. This comes as Premier Brad Wall shuffles his cabinet around, appointing and removing people as necessary. Eyre is considered an “individual with an excellent background, educational background, a background of leadership, community leadership” by Wall in a statement provided to CBC.

A new face to the cabinet, this is Eyre’s first appointment in this type of position, having not been a member of the cabinet prior. Tina Beaudry-Mellor (Regina University), David Marit (Wood River) and Joe Hargrave (Prince Albert Carlton) join Eyre in new positions as well.

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an individual with an excellent background, educational background, a background of leadership, community leadership”[/pullquote]

Eyre was elected as an MLA for Saskatoon’s Stonebridge-Dakota area in 2016 during the Sask. Party’s landslide win in the most recent provincial election. Eyre is no stranger to the education system though, having been a public school board trustee in Saskatoon. Eyre also studied at the University of Saskatchewan and McGill.

Having taken over the position from Scott Moe, Eyre feels that what is being done for Universities is sufficient.

“On post-secondary education, we continue to provide strong support to institutions and students and we’re really proud of our investments. Clearly there’s some challenges fiscally, but the commitment is certainly there”

stated Eyre in an interview with CBC on Sept. 1. Generally, Eyre seems fairly content with the way things have been handled in regards to the province’s universities.

Eyre has also been targeted for comments she made about climate change in a column for the Calgary Herald in 2011. She has come under some flack for alluding to climate change as “witchcraft reasoning” in relation to a quote from University of Regina professor Dave Sauchyn. NDP opposition have been bringing up her comments in the column in question period sessions.

Reiterating her position, Eyre states that the column was “from a humorous standpoint” and that she does indeed believe in climate change.

Wall defended her as well saying “It was an unfortunate remark that was, fell below that mark of jest that I think she intended for it” he stated in an interview with CBC.

Overall, Eyre does not appear to be too much of a change to the way things were, carrying on with what has been happening prior to her appointment. It is not yet clear, and too early to tell, how much or how little Eyre may change the direction of post-secondary in Saskatchewan.

The Carillon will keep you informed with any new updates or changes in Ms. Eyre’s stance on university life.