UNB is a Public Institution

UNB is a Public Institution bound by Statute

UNB was the first public university in North America and has a large university endowment fund @ $177, 000, 000. We, the people, pay tax-dollars and donations totaling over 70% of its funding. As a public institution empowered by Statute (The UNB Act), UNB Administration has a legal obligation to hear from the students they teach, the professors that are its lifeblood, and the alumni they ask each year for support.

UNB is empowered by the UNB Higher Education Act, s. 6 (1) and this means that to some extent UNB Administration is confined by law in the same way we confine other types of statutory power. In this sense, UNB must only exercise the power it is given and may not act outside this power or in an unreasonable manner. Under the UNB Act, UNB may invest money into any property as long as they do so exercising good judgment, and care that a person of prudence, discretion and intelligence would exercise as a TRUSTEE of the property of others.

One method the legal system polices statutory power is through “administrative law”.

THE UNB WOODLOT
In 1800, King George III granted the UNB Woodlot to the College of New Brunswick. Whether in England or America, it was part of the attenuation of feudalism that quit-rents were replaced by sales, but the replacement was not immediate in Canada. Early attempts to generate revenue by fees and sales in Nova Scotia produced poor results, and, in all of British North America immediately after the War of Independence, sales were ruled out by the need to assist Loyalist migrants

The Government of Great Britain did not sell this land to The College of New Brunswick, but rather it was granted under Quit-rent, to be used for public purposes forever: “...to the sole proper use and behold of the said Governor and Trustees of The College of New Brunswick and their successors and assign forever...”. This obligation was further strengthened by the 1827 Royal Charter for King's College and the 1859 provincial Act Establishing The University of New Brunswick that requires trustees “...shall be able and capable to have, take, and receive, purchase, acquire, hold, possess, enjoy, and maintain...”; the sale of Woodlot land is not an option for UNB! UNB's actions seem to be in clear violation of the original land grant . The sale of the Woodlot land to the City of Fredericton for the four-lane highway represents one concrete example of such violation.

This area is legally a Wildlife Refuge and is 10 times the size of Odell Park in Fredericton and 4 times the size of Stanley Park in Vancouver. It is one of the oldest managed woodlots in North America, used by faculty researchers, students, and the community alike.

The land management of the UNB Woodlot is a public issue. The trustees of UNB have to put the best interests of students, the UNB community, and the surrounding communities above their own in deciding how to use this land.