'Where is my program?': Manitoba midwifery students want classes reinstated

Midwifery students in Manitoba are keeping up the pressure on the provincial government to reinstate classes this fall.

The status of the four-year Bachelor of Midwifery program, which was to be jointly offered by the University College of the North and the University of Manitoba, has beenin limbo ever since its 14 current students were told this week their second-year courses likely won't be offered in the upcoming academic year.

• Midwifery students 'left high and dry' after hearing courses likely won't continue this fall
• Program in limbo because of funding, not accreditation, says UCN

About 100 people ralliedat the Manitoba Legislative Building on theThursday afternoon insupport ofthe students, who have rejected offers from the province to take nursing classes at the University of Manitoba instead.

"We committed our families, we committed our homes, we committed our money, and we want the same respect and the same commitment shown," Jill Larner, one of the students, told the crowd.

"I was promised a program in the fall on June 13. Where is my program? I want to know."

The issue has been complex, with officials giving different reasons why the program is not being offered this year.

Education Minister Ian Wishart said earlier this week that the program was not accredited by the College of Midwives of Manitoba the regulatory body for midwifery in the province due to concerns about practical training elements.

However, both UCN and the college said the real reason why the program was not approved is because it no longer has provincial government funding.

"The college is the regulatory body, so they're essentially saying the program that [they] were asked to approve,and that they did approve,doesn't exist. It won't exist in that form anymore, and so it can't be approved," Dan Smith, UCN's vice-president of academics and research, told CBC News on Wednesday.

"I'm resisting the implication that it was the college that is causing this problem. The reality is is that the lack of funding means the program that they approved cannot be implemented, and so there is no program."

In a statement, College of Midwives registrar Janice Erickson said her office will be talking with Wishart's office and "further clarification on this complex issue may be forthcoming."

She added that Wishart "provided additional comments in the House today confirming that the College of Midwives of Manitoba did approve the joint program this year, and that this program that was developed and approved is no longer being offered."