Quesnel, B.C. – Quesnel City Council will discuss the feasibility of providing free transit as an interim measure to users of CNC’s North Cariboo Community Campus at its meeting tonight.

Mayor Bob Simpson says it follows the school’s decision to institute pay parking the beginning of this month.

A decision he calls “an affront to the community on a two-fold basis.”

“One, we don’t have pay parking anywhere and they go and unilaterally institute pay parking,” says Simpson. “The second piece is that that’s our campus, and we believe that there should have been fairly significant consultations before any changes were made.”

He says that includes the fact it’s a combined UNBC/CNC campus in which UNBC contributes to the operational cost of the parking lot and “they weren’t consulted.”

“So it’s just a bad decision all around and the lack of consultation, the implementation strategy, was stuck down everybody’s throat.”

Simpson says the issue is a symptom of change in the way CNC makes its decisions.

“We’ve actually been downgraded from a regional manager to a principal where the academic decision making and many of the other decisions are being made by the deans and by the president in Prince George,” he says.

“That fundamentally changes the nature of our campus so pay parking has become a flash point for a lot of concerns about the future of post-secondary education in our community.”

CNC president Henry Reiser wasn’t available for an interview with 250 News but did release the following statement.

“CNC is autonomous when it comes to administrative decisions, such as parking. We are expected by the Provincial Government to manage our budget which includes looking for efficiencies – as are other BC public post-secondary institutions. Parking fees of three dollars a day will cover maintenance costs, snow removal, line painting, curbs and asphalt repairs. This is the same parking rate as the Prince George campus has had for the past 12 years.”

In addition to the above statement, Reiser and Board Chair Vince Price will be attending a special open meeting of Council to discuss the College’s pay-parking initiative Monday, September 28.