Could you afford to pay $4,300 a year for university?
On Sunday, the Youth Wing of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) called on the Charest government to unfreeze tuition.
“This announcement only reflects the PLQ’s right-wing politics and has nothing to do with the interests of students and youth who benefit from accessible education,” said Canadian Federation of Students – Quebec (CFS-Q) chairperson Carolyn Zwicky-Perez.
A parliamentary commission on funding for post-secondary education will take place in Quebec City on Feb.17. In addition to the PLQ-Youth, university administrations and the Conseil du Patronat, a lobby group representing employers, will be asking the government to raise tuition rates.
Education Minister Pierre Reid has said that tuition increase was not an option. But Charest responded positively to the PLQ-Youth’s message, saying on CBC radio that the deregulation of tuition represented and international trend that Quebec must consider following.
“It was only last September that the PLQ-Youth were proposing the creation of a committee to review the Liberal government’s record in meeting its electoral promises,” said Tim McSorley, CFS-Q secretary treasurer. “Now, six months later, they are calling on Charest to break the single most important promise he made to youth.”
The CFS-Q denounced the PLQ-Youth’s stand and will be submitting its own recommendation to the parliamentary commission. Because of a lack of trust between the government and the people, the CFS-Q and Association pour une Solidarit Syndicale tudiante are planning a protest for Feb. 17, before the parliamentary commission is over. They’re calling for accessible, quality and public education.
McSorley said the government has to see that “it’s the students themselves that are paying attention and don’t want the tuition fees lifted.
“Right now, [the Charest government is] testing the ground.”
The CFS-Q is asking the Charest government to increase massive funding into universities, which would restore the quality of education and eliminate the need for private sources of funding. “They can’t say that they have no money and then turn around and promise a $5 billion tax cut to the rich,” said Rob Green of CFS-Q.
On the federal level, “education spending is to its lowest in 30 years,” said Green, which has created a need for private funding. “The shift to private sector funding changes the priorities of universities,” he said. “Are universities here to serve public interest or to make profit?”
According to Statistics Canada, 71.4 per cent of respondents in 2002 who had dropped out of post-secondary education cited financial barriers as the primary reason.
The CFS-Q is asking the Charest government to enact legislation to reduce and eventually eliminate post-secondary fees. The total budget of Quebec’s financial aid program was cut by 35 per cent between 1996 and 2001.
“Education is a right for all and not a privilege for the wealthy,” states the CFS-Q submission. “Education is one of the principal means by which individuals from less privileged backgrounds may become empowered to break the cycle of poverty.”
The CSF-Q is asking for adequate funding that does not “force students to live in conditions of poverty.”
The Charest government became notorious with unions in December, as they protested against amendments to the Quebec Labor Code. A law that received less publicity was law 19, which seeks to transfer responsibility for the administration of student debt to private banks. “Before universities, the public, would consider applications [for student loans and bursaries]. Now the banks and financial institutions, the private sector, get a say,” explained Zwicky-Perez. This opens the door for credit checks for loans. If your parents or partner don’t make money, banks may not give you loans.”
CFS-Q also worries that because banks will be making profit from loans, bursaries may be put on the backburner.
The CFS-Q is asking for the government to abandon of law 19 and provide 100 per cent need-based bursaries
Research is another area that the CFS-Q focuses on. From 1990 to 2000, private sector funding jumped form 18 per cent of total research funding in Quebec to 25 per cent. Green believes this to be problematic because “the quest for truth and the quest for profits don’t go together very often.” Privatizing research will favour commercial possibilities over academic work with no interest to the corporate sector. “There’s no corporation that will fund research on global warming,” said Green.
The CFS-Q calls for the government to abandon performance-based funding and start an investigation into the quality of education.
It is also recommending a reform of the government boards of universities. “The highest decision-making bodies are undemocratic and tend to have more representation from the private sector than from the university’s own community,” states the submission to the parliamentary committee.
Buses will be leaving Montreal at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Feb. 17 for the protest in Quebec City. For more information call 931-2377.
