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PRODUCED BY LANGARA JOURNALISM STUDENTS | WWW.LANGARAVOICE.CA
MARCH 19, 2026 • VOL. 59 NO. 2 • VANCOUVER, B.C.
Students fear tuition hike
Op Ed: Don’t limit your Many worry provincial review will put 2% domestic cap at risk expression ... or ours BY LIAM CLARKE
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provincial government review examining the financial sustainability of B.C.’s 25 public colleges and universities has created fear among faculty and students that tuition will increase. The provincial government knows that “the status quo is not sustainable,” and “tuition increases are explicitly on the table,” said Debi Herrera Lira, chairperson of the B.C. Federation of Students. “The government is considering asking students to pay more, while also refusing to commit to new public funding.” The federal government’s recent limits on international student s t udy p e r m i t s h ave r e d u c e d enrolment and revenue for many of B.C.’s postsecondary instiDebi Herrera Lira tutions. Langara’s CHAIRPERSON, projected deficit B.C. FEDERATION OF has doubled from STUDENTS $16 million to $32 million in the past six months, and 219 instructors have been laid off. The provincial government launched a review to establish a plan to keep B.C.’s post-secondary system financially sustainable. Herrera Lira said some postsecondary institutions have asked the provincial government to remove the two per cent annual tuition cap. Lifting the tuition cap will make higher education less accessible, said Niall Christie, a history instructor at Langara. “If you create a situation where colleges and universities can charge whatever they want for tuition, we go back to a situation where education becomes increasingly available to only the financial elite,” Christie said. “What the higher education sector needs is more funding.” Sarah Warr, a first-year psychology student at Langara, said she came to Langara because it was cheaper than other schools. “I’m paying for my tuition myself. It won’t help if they make it more expensive than it needs to be,” said Warr. “I’d be pissed” if tuition at Langara was increased, said Bodhi Cutler, a second-year fine arts student at Langara. “I already feel like I don’t get enough resources for the amount of money that I pay,” Cutler said. The review will be delivered by Don Avison, former B.C. deputy minister and former board chair of Emily Carr University of Art + Design, by March 31.
A response to theft BY MARC GUIDO BOLEN
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Student Bodhi Cutler says he would “be pissed” if tuition got raised. PHOTO BY LIAM CLARKE Jessie Sunner, minister of postsecondary education and future skills, said in an email to the Voice that she understands “the stress and anxiety” felt by students and faculty because of the review. “I want to reassure all our partners that our number one priority throughout this work is ensuring accessible education.” Sunner said. “We’re open to exploring different options and pathways to help bring stability back to the sector.” With public institutions unable
to rely so heavily on international students’ tuition fees, the financial burden will “absolutely” fall on domestic students said Korky Neufeld, post-secondary education critic for the Conservative Party of B.C. “Without that money, they’re going to have to close some programs and those domestic students will have to go elsewhere,” Neufeld said. Bernie Maroney, a business professor at Langara who will be laid off at the end of April, said he expects
layoffs to continue and fears the cost of Langara’s deficits will ultimately fall on students. Maroney said there are instructors at Langara that have spent over 20 years in education have lost everything. The post-secondary review is the provincial government “covering their ass, that’s it.” “They’re going to come out with a bunch of blanket PR statements that justify them doing nothing.” Maroney said.
ast week, more than 900 copies of the Voice were taken overnight. After replacing them with new copies, additional stacks were removed this week. It is disheartening to see this happen, and we’re doing our best to ensure it will not happen again. This situation is not just a disservice to our team, but to the students and staff at Langara and the residents of Vancouver who enjoy reading our stories. Taking all copies simply prevents others from having the chance to read them. The Voice is free and is intended to be readily available for everyone. We operate in good faith that people will take as many copies as they need but will not take, steal or throw away all available copies on campus. It is wrong that our papers were stolen and thrown away. It is a greater wrong that whoever threw them away did not state their cause, reason or concern. Suppressing one voice does not amplify another, especially when that voice remains silent or anonymous. The role the Voice plays in elevating the voices of our college’s students and staff is worth preserving. Sometimes our stories are read by thousands, sometimes by only a few dozen. Regardless of how many eyes the stories reach, the Voice, and journalism at large, is often meaningful and should be .That being said, the Voice is just one group of students, who cycle in and out within one to two years of education, taught by four or five instructors, in a school where many students will finish their studies elsewhere. In other words, the Voice does not represent every perspective on campus and we should not be, and aren’t, the only voice on campus. We encourage everyone to share their voice without destroying ours. Like most media outlets, our newspaper exists within certain boundaries with unique tradeoffs. While many media outlets rely on ad revenue or subscriptions, the Voice is dependent on Langara College. The Voice is both a platform for journalism but also a means of education for students. Producing journalism within a classroom means our choices are shaped not only by our own perspectives but also by the oversight of instructors and the program at large. Please see NEWSPAPER THEFT, page 2