Upon taking office in 2001, the BC Liberal government initiated a "Core Services Review" designed to identify savings in support of a 10% cut in government expenditures. Almost immediately, incoming Advanced Education Minister Shirley Bond initiated a review of TechBC's future. While TechBC prepared a series of business plans, each more aggressive than the last, deputy minister Gerry Armstrong solicited proposals from other BC post-secondary institutions. Simon Fraser University was the first to express its interest, and ultimately was best able to provide the province with a political "win" in the otherwise politically disastrous closure of the only university in the vote-rich Fraser Valley region.
