Quebec’s English universities deny they’re ‘fat cats’
Officials counter perceptions of overfunding
• Quebec’s three English universities say they’re partly to blame for what they describe as the misguided but widespread perception that they are richer than French universities and disconnected from the province’s francophone majority.
“We have not been doing a good job in communicating what we’re doing as universities but also our impact on Quebec society,” Bishop’s principal Sébastien Lebel-grenier said at a panel discussion at Mcgill this week.
Two of his co-panellists — Mcgill president Deep Saini and Concordia president Graham Carr — echoed that message.
The three universities are still reeling after Premier François Legault’s government decided last fall to significantly increase tuition for out-of-province students and change the funding formula for international students. Bishop’s was given a partial exemption.
Concordia and Mcgill say this could devastate their enrolment, finances and reputations. They were also stung by the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s contention that their non-frenchspeaking students threaten the French language.
Lebel-grenier, Saini and Carr were on a panel Wednesday organized by the Mcgill Institute for the Study of Canada and the Consortium of English Language CEGEPS, Colleges and Universities of Quebec.
Moderator Francine Pelletier asked the university leaders about the perception that English universities are “fat cats” with more money than their French counterparts, and have a “speak white mentality” where French isn’t welcome.
Sébastien Lebel-grenier, Bishop’s principal, said 50 years ago, English post-secondary institutions may have been “more detached from Quebec society,” but that is not true today.
“If you look at Concordia, Mcgill and Bishop’s (today), we are universities that are integrated into the fabric of Quebec society, recognize the importance of defending French (and) give opportunities to our students to learn French, but (we) have the right to continue to exist as universities that teach principally in English.”
Lebel-grenier said the CAQ government labelled the institutions “anglophone universities.” But “we don’t consider ourselves ‘anglophone universities’ but rather universities at the service of the Quebec population.”
The three institutions “have for a very long time, in a rather aggressive way, put in place all kinds of measures to give opportunities to learn French for our students from outside Quebec.” The goal is to help them integrate and stay in Quebec.”
At Bishop’s, the smallest English university, about 45 per cent of the student body is from other provinces and other countries, he said.
Bishop’s budget is $10 million lower than that of comparable small French universities, Lebel-grenier said. “Suggesting that we’re rich is completely crazy.”
Deep Saini, Mcgill’s president, said training students from around the world brings dividends to Quebec. He pointed to foreign-born Mcgill alumni Leslie Vadasz and Noubar Afeyan who went on to found Intel and Moderna, respectively.
Vadasz has donated millions for scholarships for Mcgill students. Moderna chose Laval for a vaccine plant and is working with universities to “turn Montreal into a global centre of mrna-based therapies, both vaccines and cures for diseases.”
Saini said it’s unfortunate some in Quebec focus on language when they think about universities. “To distil it down to one single denominator — language — is in my view very, very sterile and a counter-productive approach that is tearing apart our society and a sector that is there to serve society,” Saini said.
Saini said when he arrived at the Université de Montréal from India in 1987, he spoke no French. But he learned the language and spent 18 years there as an academic.
He said 60 per cent of Mcgill students are bilingual; 20 per cent have French as their mother tongue. In his administration, officials often switch between English and French mid-sentence, Saini said.
The “urban myth” that English universities are overfunded “is so completely without foundation that it’s not funny.”
French universities get more basic operating funds per student than English ones, thanks to special allocations for particular endeavours, such as recruiting international students, Saini said. “So it’s the exact opposite of the perception.”
Universities with faculties that are expensive to operate, such as medicine, receive more funding than those that offer social sciences programs. But Mcgill gets no more money for medicine than French universities with medical programs, Saini added.
Mcgill does indeed attract more research money than any other Quebec university. Researchers compete for that funding nationally or internationally, Saini noted.
Mcgill ranks in the top 30 universities in the world, he added.
French universities take in less from international students due to deals Quebec offers to all students from France and francophone students from Belgium. They pay a fraction of what most foreign students are charged.
Quebec keeps its tuition for local students low but has not compensated by increasing funding to keep its universities on the same level as those in provinces with higher tuition. Another $1.6 billion in annual funding would be needed to match Ontario, Saini said.
“It’s a created problem, created by us collectively,” Saini said. “Now we try to solve it by stealing a little bit of money from three English universities.”