Opposition questions how 1-page proposal earned Halifax university $25M from province

When Saint Mary's University pitched the Nova Scotia government on getting $25 million to create health-care data analytics and management programs to transform the province's health-care system, the university started by highlighting its financial woes.

Citing "significantly reduced operating revenue" due to changes in international student permitting and what it described as challenging student demographics, the Halifax university said it was "at a crossroads."

That crossroads is declining enrolment and persistent deficits. Earlier this year, the Saint Mary's University Faculty Union called for the university's president to resign, and accused the university's leadership of mismanagement.

Saint Mary's billed its proposal — which was less than a page long — as something that would align with the province's plan for fixing the health-care system. The courses would be for health-care administrators, office doctors and family doctors "to provide them with the business administration skills they need to execute innovative solutions to challenges."

The university said it would create a health-care analytics diploma that would "bring a new level of data-informed decision-making to Nova Scotia's health-care system to help health workers be responsive and resilient."

Saint Mary's recently started rolling out the programming, with opposition parties questioning the due diligence that was done by the province in the first place.

Unlike its local rival — Dalhousie University — Saint Mary's does not have schools of medicine or nursing, but its proposal highlighted its existing data analytics program and the reputation of the Sobey School of Business.

When the funding was first announced in March 2023, just what the programming would look like was unclear.

"This announcement came very suddenly and so now we have to consult with our faculty who design and deliver these programs," said Madine VanderPlaat, the university's interim vice-president of academic and research. "So we will know that in a few months time in terms of where we're going with that."

It is this uncertainty that, in part, bothers Liberal Leader Zach Churchill.

"This is typical to how the Houston government operates," said Churchill. "They throw money around to capture headlines without any real concern for what that money is going to do for people."

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it's another example of announcements by the province "that are pretty big ticket items with pretty uncertain definitions."

"It's hard to have trust that this government is doing its due diligence, frankly," she said.

Advanced Education Minister Brian Wong said he isn't concerned by the lack of detail in the proposal.