Michel David [freely translated by Pier-André Bouchard]
Le Devoir, Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th, November 2004.
Nobody likes to be fooled. What the Minister of education, Pierre Reid, has done by transforming 100 millions of student grants into student loans, could do nothing but to shock student unions.
But there should not be any illusion here : any raise of the burden of students, being done secretly or publicly, is not well received. Therefore, it is better to be frank about it right from the start.
It would be an insult to Mr. Reid to say that he recently converted himself to a tuition freeze, since he said that it was irresponsible at the time he was presiding the destinies of Université de Sherbrooke.
In his defense, it must be said that the Liberal's commitment to maintain the tuition freeze issued in 1994 for the first liberal mandate was before his announcement of his candidacy.
Let us also be indulgent, not to say candid, by supposing that Mr. Reid did not read the Liberal's platform before accepting to defend its colors. We can hardly say, however, how he could still defend the irresponsibility he was denouncing before in the next campaign.
Some asks on the other hand how the Liberal Party and specifically the prime minister Jean Charest could wish he asks for a second mandate, but that is another question.
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It would not be right to blame students for defending the tuition freeze like if it was a fundamental right. All groups in the society presents the advantages they benefit like a source of progress. Sometimes, they really believe it.
Student unions have sometimes eloquent leaders that are envied by political parties. In a debate between the actual president of the Québec's Federation of University Student (FEUQ), Pier-André Bouchard, I would not bet on Mr Reid.
It is however the duty of governments to make the tough decisions. At the Forum des générations, the president of the Caisse de dépôt et de placement, Henri-Paul Rousseau, said out loud what everybody was thinking except students : in a Canadian and North American context, the tuition level prevailing in Québec is "ridiculous".
Even the president of the Youth Liberal's Commission, Stéphanie Trudeau, recognized it last year when she spoke in front of the parliamentary commission in charge of examining university funding : "We must be realistic and ask students to pay a bigger share of their studies [...]. We must remove our pink glasses and be lucid."
The tuition freeze being reconducted year after year is a good indication of how efficient the student lobby, but is also an indication of the cowardness of political parties who cede to there demands. Nobody deny that education is a good investment for society and that it should be a priority for Québec, but it would be ridiculous to believe that less importance is given in the rest of the country, where tuition are as twice as high on average.
Maybe Mr. Reid tricked students who must rely on state subsidy, but there should be more of this to come as long as tuition remains frozen. Colleagues of Mr. Reid will not accept cuts in their own budgets in order to sustain a freeze that himself finds irresponsible.
In the meantime, the 60% of the students who do not rely on grants and loans will see their financial burden get lighter since a freeze mean a diminution in real terms.
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It would be enough that the three parties represented at the National Assembly work together on that issue to stop student lobbies to win this as an electoral commitment every general election.
Actually, only ADQ is openly promoting a tuition raise to the consumer price index. By looking at how things evolve, it may remain the only party doing so.
The document of orientation prepared by the political commission of the PLQ for the congress delegates of november 19th, 20th and 21th recognize the problem clearly : "After more than a decade of tuition freeze, universities, whose production costs are raising, need some oxygen."
However, the conclusion remains to be reached by delegates since they are couragously asked to answer the question : "What are the solutions in order to raise university funding ?" They could answer : "You know it perfectly."
The PLQ's direction knows it so well that Jean Charest was in favor of a tuition indexation before 1998 general elections, where Liberals lost, before taking the commitment of a freeze the eve of 2003 general elections... that they won.
We should not rely on the PQ to take the bull by its horns. In 2003, its electoral platform was also aiming for a tuition freeze. The new program presented by the executive of the party remains in broad known terms. It is proposed to "give a State investment priority in Education" and to "ameliorate and raise incentives to raise access to higher education".
The only propositions submitted recommend a reconduction of the tuition freeze. However, this would be only a temporary program : if Québec was sovereign, tuition would be abolished. PQ can have his eldorado too !