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MARCH 13, 2025 • VOL. 58 NO. 5 • VANCOUVER, B.C.
Later last call for bars but no later last bus for their workers New late-night liquor rules may leave student workers stranded
Michael Koke looks into the crowd at the Langara town hall while faculty members settle in on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2025.
Modern languages facing class cuts PHOTO MARC BOLEN
Some instructors feel targeted by ongoing layoffs By MARC BOLEN
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angara College is cutting all Chinese classes from the department of modern languages, beginning fall 2025. The cuts come amidst what the college called “a five percent cut across the board” in response to a budget shortfall. Wei Xia, the assistant chair of the modern languages department, said a total of 35 sections will no longer be available by spring 2026, resulting in layoffs. Out of the seven faculty members impacted in the humanities division, six of them are from her department, including four complete layoffs and two partial layoffs, she said. In B.C., a temporary or partial layoff means that an employee is given less work or no work with an expectation of returning. A complete layoff means a termination of employment. Huimin Lin, a Chinese language instructor at Langara, said that her students were very upset when she told them the news. “They said Chinese is such [an] important, marketable skill for them to find a job in the future. It’s not just a three-credit course,” Lin said.
Both Lin and Xia have received layoff notices that will take effect in the upcoming fall semester. “I think our departments are very much targeted,” Lin added. At a town hall meeting late last month, Langara College announced it is expecting back-to-back budget deficits as a result of declining international student enrolment. The college is anticipating a $1.5 to $2 million deficit for the current fiscal year and $13 million in the next. Other departments are being impacted by the shortfall. Niall Christie, the department chair of history, Latin and political science, said his department is also having to make cuts, including two sections in history and one section in political science. “[Deans] are looking at enrolments, looking at the number of sections, and deciding how many sections they need to reduce in their respective faculties,” he said. Summer enrolment numbers will be the next indicator for which classes will be cut, according to Christie. Michael Koke, Langara’s vicepresident of administration and finance, said in last month’s town-
hall that the executive leadership team is planning a five per cent cut “across the board” and a 25 per cent cut to travel and team engagement in their respective departments. In B.C., post-secondary institutions are not permitted to run budget deficits, but the college is working with the Ministry of PostSecondary Education and Future Skills to get approval for Langara’s current budget. Yusuf Varachia, vice-president of external relations and community engagement, said in an interview at the town hall meeting that the federal government’s international student cap is having a profound impact on the college. “Everyone in this room — our faculty, our staff, the executive team, everyone — [is] working with government, with each other, with community, to try to solve some of these concerns,” Varachia said. Ivan Kuba, a former Langara student who took a Chinese language course, started a “Stop Chinese Exclusion at Langara College” petition that he hopes will encourage the school to reverse their decision to cut Chinese language courses. As of March 9, it had gathered over 600 signatures.
“It’s gonna cost more money,” Fernandez said. “You have to start to find different ways to get home.” Vancouver’s NightBus system provides some late-night service, but routes are limited, and travel times can be long, especially for workers commuting outside the city. A TransLink spokesperson said in By OKSANA SHTOHRYN an email that SkyTrain hours cannot be extended due to overnight mainocal transit advocates say tenance requirements. Translink’s Vancouver’s late-night tran- 2019 Late Night Service Report sit system cannot support found that later hours would leave hospitality workers if plans to staff with insufficient time to mainextend liquor service hours get the tain the system. go-ahead. TransLink said expanding NightDenis Agar, executive director Bus service could be a solution, but of Movement: Metro Vancouver there is no additional funding. Transit Riders, said current transit “If TransLink is given a choice services are not equipped to support between increasing funding for the g rowNightBus or ing late-night “We need more night aovdedrrcersoswi ndge c o n o m y, leaving workduring the buses. We need them ing ers, many of day, they’re them students, to be more frequent going to pick without reliov e r c r o w d able or affordand we need them to ing,” Ag ar able ways to said. go more places. ” get home. Some hospi“Our Nighttality manag— DENNIS AGAR, TRANSIT ADVOCATE Bus system is ers say they bad. We need more night buses. We have taken matters into their own need them to be more frequent, and hands. we need them to go more places,” Stephen Sherry, restaurant Agar said. manager at Glowbal, where FernanVancouver’s liquor rules, dez works, said staff often arrange unchanged since 2004, are under their own transportation when tranreview following feedback from busi- sit is unavailable. nesses. Restaurants can currently “A lot of our staff go home serve alcohol until 1 a.m. on week- together … senior staff often give days and 2 a.m. on weekends, while younger workers rides,” Sherry said. bars and nightclubs can serve until Coun. Mike Klassen said the city 1 a.m. to 3 a.m., depending on loca- wants to balance business needs tion. The City of Vancouver says the with worker safety. proposal aims to modernize regula“Ultimately, we want to make tions. sure that people can get to and from While businesses say the change their workplace and do so safely,” could boost the hospitality sector, Klassen said. some workers worry that the change But Agar warned that without will create new challenges without new funding, service could get improvements to late-night transit. worse, not better. Langara College student Juan “TransLink has said that if they Valencia Fernandez, who works two don’t get additional funding soon, restaurant jobs while studying full- they may have to cut 50 per cent time, said transit options are already of bus services and 30 per cent of unreliable for late-night workers. train services starting in 2026,” The last bus from the SkyTrain Agar said. station to Fernandez’s home leaves Many hospitality workers will at 12:20 a.m. He said that when he have to rely on expensive or unreworks a late shift and misses it, he has liale options to get home without to take an Uber or a taxi. improvements to late-night transit.
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