Simmonds was once one half of the Simmonds-Kennedy law firm?the other half being N.L. Finance Minister Jerome Kennedy. He also advised Kennedy during his 2007 campaign.

?I guess if You’re a friend of the premier or a supporter of the party, that is one of the perks of the day,? said Butler.

?Political appointments are not something new to government anyways. It’s been ongoing for years.?

As chair, Simmonds also takes the reins of MUN’s presidential search process.
The search was put on hiatus after it was revealed that Education Minister Joan Burke vetoed candidates, an act that was seen by critics as interference with Memorial’s autonomy.

Burke, who announced the appointment on November 18, says Simmonds? history as an independent and outspoken lawyer will serve him well in his new role.

?He has the ability to do critical analysis, to be able to think through situations, to be able to negotiate, and to be able to bring that whole level of analysis,? she said. ?I think that would be an appropriate skill we would need in a chair.?

Although the MUN Faculty Association agrees that Simmonds is qualified for the job, it is reserving judgment until a later date.

MUNFA President Ross Klein says the most important issue now is getting a presidential search underway without government interference. Memorial has been without a president since January 2008.

?For us, the way things are now, with the search being suspended, we view that as having a negative implication for the university,? said Klein. ?We would hope that when the decision is made by the board of regents and presented to the lieutenant governor in council, it would be approved and agreed to.?
Burke says she too wants to get the search underway.

?I think we need to clarify our roles; we need to get a permanent president in place at Memorial University. We’ve got a great institution there, we need to have this issue resolved and move forward,? she said.

To ensure Memorial’s independence during the new search, Butler plans to put forth a bill in the House of Assembly, N.L.’s provincial legislature, this week that seeks to change the Memorial University Act, which defines MUN’s relationship to the provincial government.

With the House stacked against him, he isn’t confident it will pass. Currently, Danny Williams? Progressive Conservatives hold 44 of 48 seats.

?Let’s face it. When it comes to the House of Assembly, our numbers are way down. There’s only four of us, only three on the Liberal side, and the [NDP] has one member,? he said.

If it doesn’t pass, Klein will still be calling for government to take a step back from Memorial.

?Our concern, whether the Act is changed or not, we want to ensure the university has the autonomy to choose who the president is,? he said.

Aboriginal students aged 25 to 34 have a post-secondary completion rate of 42 per cent, and those aged 35 to 44 have a rate of 47 per cent, according to a study released by the C.D. Howe institute. Non-aboriginals come in at 68 and 62 per cent respectively.

The data took five years to compile, and reflects the state of education as of the end of 2006, when the most recent information was available.

Adrian Tanner, a former anthropology professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s, says the difference can be tracked to high-school graduation levels.

?Essentially, You’re dealing with people whose home life is a totally foreign culture to what is being taught,? he said. ?You can’t start at the post-secondary level; you’ve got to start earlier and get more kids who feel confident to tackle any post-secondary institution.?

Less than 40 per cent of aboriginals under 45 have a high school diploma, while non-Aboriginals have a nearly 90 per cent high-school completion rate.
Tanner, who has done multiple studies on aboriginal education in Newfoundland and Labrador, says the low numbers stem from an ill-equipped and under-funded education system that isn’t ready to prepare aboriginal youth for a future in post-secondary.

Part of this poor preparation comes from a lack of understanding between teachers and their pupils, he says. Young graduates, drawn by isolation pay, leave school after a short stint, giving educators little time to understand the issues faced by their students.

There is also a lack of aboriginal representation in the curriculum, says Tanner. Some aboriginal students feel the education system strips them of their identity.

?They’ve got to try, on the one hand, to prepare the kids for post-secondary,? he said. ?[Then] they’ve got to try and do this second job that the community is asking of them. That is to make sure the kids don’t grow up totally ignorant of their own people and their own way of life.?

Tanner puts the blame, in N.L. at least, on a lack of funding from government. Aboriginal education, for the most part, comes under provincial jurisdiction.

With a larger cash flow, he says the curriculum could be adapted to the aboriginal way of life. This would reduce the fear of loss of culture, increase the graduation numbers, and send more kids to higher education.

Things can be done at the campus level as well, Tanner says. He calls for university programs that incorporate aboriginal issues and prepare teachers for the barriers they may face in aboriginal communities.

Although all these efforts would increase the availability of education for aboriginals in N.L. and across the country, Tanner says it is still up to aboriginal students to take advantage of them.

?It is up to groups like the Innu or the Inuit how far they want to go and how far they want to assimilate,? he said.