Cloud of cynicism hangs over education summit

High hopes collapse as government plans to cut $124 million from universities

“It will be a very cloudy summit. This could pave the way for a tuition hike in the next few months.” ASSE SPOKESMAN JÉRÉMIE BÉDARD-WIEN

The second themed workshop for the Summit on Higher Education will begin Thursday night under a cloud of gloom after the Quebec government announced unexpected cuts of $124 million to universities last week.

Whereas the first workshop on quality two weeks ago was greeted as a fresh opportunity to address issues in higher education, there is a lot more cynicism as the second workshop approaches and the community is still reeling from the cuts.

In anticipation of the mood, Higher Education Minister Pierre Duchesne sent out a letter on Wednesday trying to appease participants and insisting the dialogue at the summit will still be constructive — that it is not the sham critics have called it since the cuts were announced.

Blaming the financial situation on the former Liberal government, he said he understood the bitterness left after last spring’s tuition protest, but still believes dialogue is what is needed to move the situation forward — albeit acknowledging it is a tough road ahead.

With accessibility as the topic this week, students and university officials are worried about the destructive power of such cuts on an already fragile system.

Université Laval rector Denis Brière sent an appeal to the community on Wednesday to support his petition requesting that the government reconsider its position to im- pose “draconian” cuts and instead invest substantially in higher education “for the future of our society.”

“It will be a very cloudy summit,” said Jérémie Bédard-Wien, a spokesman for the Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSE), who accused the government of making the cuts in secret after promising an open forum to discuss the orientation of uni- versities.

“This could pave the way for a tuition hike in the next few months,” he said.

Even if it does, the Parti Québécois’s preparation documentation for the workshop, to be held Thursday night and Friday at the Université du Québec à TroisRivières, makes it clear it has found that financial reasons — and tuition costs in particular — have a minor impact on students’ decision to go to university.

It notes that tuition may be the most “visible” factor, but it is by no means the most significant, citing geographic accessibility and socio-economic and cultural accessibility as important causes as well.

This will be supported by the Conseil du patronat du Québec, which will present a report arguing that if accessibility is to be increased, it will require the championing of higher education to promote its value, according to head economist Norma Kozhaya.

“Financial reasons play a relatively small role,” said Kozhaya, who also alluded to the fact this workshop won’t have the same ambience of optimism that existed at the first one.

But ASSE will present a report arguing for free education.

“It is time to go further than demanding the status quo and put forward the only idea that will offer true accessibility,” Bédard-Wien said.

With a cost of $300 million to $700 million, he said the idea of removing tuition entirely could be easily financed with taxes that have been removed.

And he said Duchesne’s contention that students would never mobilize for free tuition is misguided.

“That’s what the former education minister believed about tuition hikes,” he said. To support Brière’s petition, go to ulaval.ca and click on the “J’appuie” button.